Displaced
by waragainstreality
Summary: Everything is going well for Team Arrow: the city is safe and Oliver Queen can finally focus on the important things - getting his company back and winning the heart of the woman he loves. But just when everything is going right, his world comes crashing down on him in a flash of light. He wakes up dazed and disoriented in a world strange yet familiar. Can he find his way home?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is my reworking of my story "Misplaced in Time". Some things are the same...others not so much, but I think all the changes are for the better. That's all I'll say because I want to keep my notes to a minimum in this story, but please PLEASE let me know what you think! I appreciate any and all feedback (even if you think it sucks). That said: I hope you like this because I really do! ENJOY! _

_A/N Take 2: This chapter has been updated with a modified ending (thanks to feedback from mabscifiromance on AO3). Check it out and let me know what you think :)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"It's going to be fine, Felicity." Oliver rests his hand on her shoulder, stilling her nervous fluttering as the elevator finally reaches the top floors of Queen Consolidated. His lips twist upwards in a grin at her nervous energy and his heart skips a beat when her blue eyes meet his. The connection nearly makes him forget how to breathe.

It's been getting stronger since his confession: this feeling drawing him to Felicity like a fish on a line, like two magnets. The 'I love you' brought his feelings out into the open and he couldn't hold them back anymore. He's tried. It takes all his focus to keep his hands to himself when they're alone. He looks for any excuse to touch her, but he's not regretting his decision. He's practically walking on air because for the first time, he sees the possibility for a relationship and he wants it. He wants it so much it hurts.

"You keep saying that, but I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something else is going to happen." She fiddles with her necklace, sliding it back and forth on its chain.

He reaches out and takes her hand, pulling it away from the charm, the other hand tilting her head up to his. "Hey, it's going to be okay." He does it unconsciously. It's his normal reaction to comfort her. He doesn't consider how kissable she looks staring up at him with her lips slightly parted.

The overwhelming urge to kiss her washes over him, pulling him irresistibly closer to her, thumb moving over her lower lip as his head naturally starts to incline. Her eyes flutter closed and his follow a second later. He can feel her breath on his face, millimeters away from kissing, but the chime of the bell dings and she startles away from him, the moment ruined.

Felicity edges away from him, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she glances at him. Oliver sighs, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He can't keep doing this, keeping her at a distance when all he wants to do is pull her close. He follows her in to the office that until recently belonged to him. His hand lands on the small of Felicity's back as they approach the elderly lawyer with his balding head.

"Mr. Queen, it's good to see you again. And you two, Miss Smoak." The man shakes their hands with a polite smile glued to his face.

"Good to see you too, Mr. Harding. Why don't we sign those papers?" The feeling of relief nearly crashing into him. Today was the day, after three months that he finally signed the papers to get his company back. Finally.

"Actually, Mr. Queen, we've run into a bit of an issue." The lawyer shifts uncomfortably under the former-CEO's gaze. Oliver watches as the man nervously straightens his tie. "There's been another bid for the company."

Oliver's eyes dart back to Felicity, but she's just as surprised as he is. She frowns at the new information, brows drawn together.

"Sorry, I'm late, Mr. Harding!" Oliver turns towards the door as a black haired man comes sauntering in, adjusting his black tie as he does. He spares a wink for Felicity and Oliver decides he doesn't like this guy, whoever he is. As if hearing Oliver's thoughts the man turns to face him. "Hi, I'm Ray Palmer. You must be Oliver Queen."

"Must be," Oliver mutters, but he's already been forgotten.

"And who are you? I wasn't expecting to run into a stunningly beautiful woman." He takes Felicity's hand and lifts it to his lips, placing a kiss to the back of her hand.

"Felicity...Smoak. I work in IT – actually, worked. I used to work there, but then he made me his EA, which means I worked up here." She pops her lips and smiles at the abrupt end of her little rant. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Palmer."

"Please, call me Ray."

Oliver coughs, drawing attention back to him. He struggles to keep his hands from curling into fists, although three of his fingers on his left hand rub together, imaging aiming an arrow at the man who waltzed in and started flirting with his Felicity.

"Mr. Palmer, here, is the other bidder for Queen Consolidated, Mr. Queen." Mr. Harding glances between the two men and Felicity shifts slightly closer to Oliver. He feels more grounded just by her reassuring presence and the acknowledgement that she is with him, despite the flirting of the man trying to buy his company.

"Really?"

Ray smiles, eyes twinkling in amusement. "You can't really be surprised, Mr. Queen. It was under your control that the company fell into the hands of Isabel Rochev. You weren't exactly a huge success with the Board. I see the potential in Queen Consolidated to lead the world into a new age of technology. I have the experience to do just that, while you, frankly, don't. No offense intended, I mean, you have done a good job considering you never graduated college, but I'm guessing that your EA played a big part in any success the company had. Am I right?"

Oliver's jaw clenches along with his fists, because he really dislikes this condescending man, who he's never heard of before. Before he can form a coherent response, Ray Palmer continues, turning towards the window and the stunning skyline before them.

"Miss Smoak really is the model employee. She helped you run this company and probably stopped it from going under. EA might be her title, but I'm willing to bet that on some days she ran the company more than you did. I bet she knows the inner workings of this company better than anyone." He offers her a stunning smile, ignoring the effect his words were having on Oliver. "So, yes Mr. Queen, I have looked into your company and you. And here I see the opportunity to create something revolutionary. With the right guidance, this company can be transformed and with it the entire city.

"I know this business has been in your family since its creation – it is your name on the building – but this is a time for building and growth. It's time for a new face." He beams at Oliver then and it takes all Oliver's training not to knock that smug grin off the bastard's face. "So, I will outbid you because this company, with me, is the future of Starling City."

...

Felicity finds Oliver in the new Lair, unsurprisingly. He left immediately following the meeting with Mr. Harding and Ray Palmer, leaving her behind with the man trying to take over the company. He was charming and suave. He had a smile that belonged on the cover of magazines, but it never made her heart skip a beat. No, that pleasure belonged to one blonde-haired former-billionaire who had a nasty habit of shooting arrows into people.

He had nearly kissed her in the elevator today and what had scared her most was that she would have let him. She would have melted into his arms at the first chance, without any regrets. Ever since the incident with Slade, they seemed to be always on the brink of crossing that final threshold, but neither wanted to be the one to make the move. There were too many reasons against them. They wanted it, but they kept telling themselves it would never work.

So Felicity simply slides into her new chair at the desk full of rescued computer equipment and starts typing away on her keyboard. Oliver's hits to the dummy pause for a beat longer than normal before resuming their pattern. It's enough that she knows he's aware of her presence. She smiles to her computers. This place already feels like home.

The old police radio they set up in the corner provides white noise in the background as the two work in their separate sections. They could have worked for countless hours if they weren't interrupted by the shrill ringing of a cell phone. Felicity, unthinking, reaches for her phone next to her keyboard, but when she finally looks over, she realizes the noise isn't coming from her phone.

She turns until her eyes land on Oliver's phone sitting on the metal table holding his arrows. He steps slowly away from the dummy, eyes meeting Felicity's startled ones as he grabs the phone, lifting it to his ear.

"Hello?"

Felicity turns away, back to her computers, but her concentration has been ruined. Once again, she's aware of Oliver's presence in a way she never was before the incident with Slade. That entire night is on a constant look in her head. Yes, he told her he loved her as a ploy, but more than that she realized he had complete faith in her. He _trusted_ her. The man who isolated himself because he couldn't trust anyone, because he had spent five years where trust was impossible: _that_ man _trusted_ her.

She looks up as his hand lands on her shoulder. Oliver smiles down at her, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"We need to head back to the office. Mr. Harding claims Ray Palmer has offered a deal."

Felicity tilts her head up at him, unimpressed at his words. After he ran out of QC earlier, Ray offered her a job in the company, one far more impressive than being his EA. The company wasn't even his and he was already making job offers. But Felicity's torn: it's a good job and it's something she wants to do. The chance to run the Applied Sciences division: it's the chance of a lifetime and she doesn't want to give it up, but she wouldn't give up her work with the Arrow either.

Oliver sighs and squeezes her shoulder. "According to Mr. Harding, Palmer wants us to stay involved in the company and he wants to talk to us."

Felicity snorts, but stands and grabs her bag. Turning on her heel, she leads the way from the lair, feeling Oliver's hand hovering just over the small of her back. Up the metal stairs, through the padlocked door and then finally the second, deadbolt-ed door, Felicity finally emerges into the alley outside their lair.

In the alley, her internal debate comes to a head and she stops short. Oliver's hand finally makes contact with her back, the place of contact nearly burning in intensity. He rubs her back in a small circle as he comes around to face her, blue eyes burning into her.

"Felicity? What is it?"

Drawing one stuttering breath, she sighs, finally lifting her eyes to meet his. "Oliver, I have to tell you something." He lets her continue and for that Felicity is grateful. "After you left today, Ray Palmer offered me a job, a good job, but that's assuming he gets the company and I know you don't want that, but I am going to need a job. I don't really want to work for another arrogant asshole but like I said, it's a really, _really_ good job. And-"

Oliver chuckles. "Felicity, do you want to go out to dinner? Tonight...as in a date...you and me on a date."

Felicity stares at him in shock, mouth falling slightly open as her eyes widen. In front her Oliver shifts nervously, unsure until the moment the smile begins to bloom on Felicity's face. She can see it in his face the moment he knows what her answer is going to be because his face lights up and a matching smile appears on his face. She nods at the warmth swells within her, starting somewhere near her heart and extending to her fingertips and toes in a warm bubble. "Yes, Oliver, I'd love to go to dinner with you."

They stand there like lovestruck idiots, swaying slightly in some unseen breeze, until Felicity remembers what she was saying before the impromptu and altogether unexpected question from Oliver.

She reaches out and punches Oliver in the arm with all her strength, knowing he can take a wimpy hit from her without so much as a wince. "And what the hell kind of timing do you call that?! I was trying to tell you something important."

She tries, but she can't keep the scowl on her face as Oliver laughs and pulls her along to the car waiting for them on the curb. He even opens the passenger door for her, gesturing her in. Felicity turns to face him instead, unintentionally pinned between him and the car.

"He really could take the company from you; you do realize that, right?"

Felicity watches as he smiles, shaking his head as he leans in. "Right now, I couldn't care less."

Her lips part to argue with him. His company is important to him and to the memory of his parents. He should be worried about the upstart Ray Palmer. He shouldn't be asking girls on dates, even if she's jittery with excitement right now. This is not the time.

But all thoughts cease as Oliver's lips press against her in a kiss, his hands moving up to cup her face. One of her hands reaches up to grab his wrist, not to stop him but to ground herself because she feels like she's falling and the ground will do nothing to catch her.

The kiss is tender, gentle, like he's afraid to break her. Felicity pushes back into him slightly and the kiss gains strength, purpose. They're teetering on the edge and when she opens her mouth to his tongue, they fall and they both know there's no going back.

...

Oliver couldn't keep the idiotic smile off his face as he walks into the lawyer's office, resisting the urge to glance sideways to see if the same smile is plastered on Felicity's face. Even the sight of Ray Palmer fails to dim Oliver's bright smile. He's still a thousand miles high on the taste of Felicity's lips.

"Good of you to join us, Mr. Queen. We're here to discuss Mr. Palmer's new proposal." Mr. Harding's eyes dart between the two business men across from him before landing with a hint of disapproval at the only woman in the room.

Oliver notices but ignores it grandly as always. Underestimating Felicity is a huge mistake for the lawyer, just like it was for Slade. He steps to the side to let Felicity sit first before taking his own seat between her and Palmer.

"So what's this new proposal?" Oliver glances between Palmer and Harding. Harding appears done with his antics, but Palmer regards him with interest, clearly seeing the shift, but not knowing what to make of it.

"Well, Mr. Queen, it appears that your two bids for the company are keeping it in limbo. In the interest of the preservation of the company, Mr. Palmer thinks the two of you should work together, splitting control of the company." Harding glances uncomfortably at Felicity and Oliver frowns. Yes, she's always in the meetings, but she doesn't overtly have anything to do with the company, not that Harding is aware of anyway.

"He will allow you to remain on as a silent partner, while he takes over the position of CEO." Oliver scowls at the suggestion. It's not the money he wants, which is really all he would get as a silent partner. Harding glances back at Ray Palmer, clearly uncomfortable with the path of this conversation. "And Ms. Smoak will return as Director of Applied Sciences. Mr. Palmer wants to expand that branch of Queen Consolidated and believe that Ms. Smoak's leadership will allow it to flourish."

Oliver doesn't doubt that it will: Felicity is amazing beyond compare. It's the only thing that stops him from throwing the deal in Palmer's face. He can't just throw away this opportunity for her. If only he had a punching bag to work through this decision, it would be so much easier.

"So, let me get this straight: Mr. Palmer wants to run the company and give me a job I'm not qualified for, but is willing to give Oliver a cut of the money the company makes?"

Oliver recognizes the tone of Felicity's voice. She hasn't quite reached her loud voice, but the question is a lead in. He knows Harding has no answer that's going to get him out of the hole he probably doesn't even realize he's in.

Mr. Harding glances at Ray Palmer, checking to make sure that's exactly what he meant. Oliver keeps his face a mask. Palmer is at least smart enough to show some trepidation before nodding. Oliver sighs.

"That's correct, Ms Smoak."

She smiles politely and grabs her purse as she stands. "Thank you for the offer. We decline." She turns and Oliver rises to join her.

"You can't be serious?" Ray demands, staring at her in shock.

"Ms. Smoak, you do not have the authority to make such a declaration." Harding glances at Oliver Queen, clearly bewildered.

Oliver shrugs. "Let me know where we go next with negotiations."

"Ms. Smoak, it's a good deal. The best you're going to get." Ray moves to face her, annoyance in his eyes. Oliver steps forward to intercept him, but Felicity's flinty gaze stops him short. She doesn't need his help with this.

"Mr. Palmer, I'm happy you want to give me such an amazing job, but I also know what happens with these kinds of take overs. You're offering Oliver money so that he's not poor, but you're going to gut his company, which means the firing of thousands of employees, employees that at this moment still have their jobs. You say you want to expand, but how much are you going to downsize other departments?" She crosses her arms and steps closer, lowering her voice into a scarier whisper and Oliver's glad that for once it's not directed at him.

"You told me you're aware that I did much of the running of the company as Oliver's executive assistant, Mr. Palmer. Did you know I could name every single employee at Queen Consolidated? I have a photographic memory so it's really not that hard. I can tell you who needs the money they make to survive and who probably should be fired because they use their free time to look up porn on the company computers. I also know how many people you would have to step on to complete this vision of yours. You'll bring in your own people in a takeover and you won't give the same benefits or consideration that the Queen family does to their employees. There's a reason I chose to work here instead of elsewhere. I had lots of offers. I can find my own job. Oliver, of course, is able to make his own decisions, but I won't let him accept a crap deal for my sake. So, your answer from me is no."

All three men watch as Felicity strides from the room and down the hall. Oliver smirks and glances at the dumbfounded men. He walks to the door and pulls it open.

"I think you have your answer. I guess this thing will just have to drag on for a little longer." He offers them a beaming smile. "I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best CEO, but I can't let you leave thousands of people jobless. Good talk, gentlemen."

He felt free as he walked from the office. Making the choice to stick by his morals as Oliver Queen and not just the Arrow allowed him to stand tall as he ventured down the hallway to where Felicity waited by the elevator, nervously pacing and wringing her hands. This time as they entered the elevator together, Oliver didn't bother keeping his distance.

His hand brushes hers and out of the corner of his eye, he watches her bite her lip in an attempt to stop her smile as their fingers interlace, locking them together. She leans into him, letting out a breath as Oliver rubs his thumb in circles over the back of her hand.

"I did the right thing, right?" She sounds unsure, small.

Oliver laughs, turning her to face him. "I didn't even think about the people who would lose their jobs. I would have said yes just so you could get your dream job. If you hadn't spoken up, I would have made a huge mistake. You're amazing, you know that?"

She blushes at his words, averting her eyes under his scrutiny. Oliver smiles quietly as he reaches up and brushes her hair back from her face to tuck it behind her ear. Her face lifts back up to his and this time he fights the urge to kiss her for a different reason: he wants to do this right. He wants to take her out to dinner and then walk her to her door for that first kiss. He doesn't want to mess this up despite how kissable she looks right now.

She groans as the doors ding open and he drags her out without a kiss. He smiles at the sound, glad he's not the only one who wants it. He throws a smirk over his shoulder and she merely shakes her head, walking faster to take the lead back to the car.

"I'll take you back to your apartment and pick you up for dinner at 7?" Confronted with the reality of the date, Oliver feels his insecurities return as he slides behind the wheel.

Felicity nods, but then her phone blasts and Detective Lance's face lights up the screen. Throwing an alarmed look in Oliver's direction, she picks up the phone.

"Detective? What's up?"

...

"What's the emergency?" Digg jogs down the stairs into the lair, coming to a stop next to Felicity. He looks over one shoulder as Oliver leans over her other one.

"Detective Lance called to let me know that William Tockman has escaped federal prison. Apparently he has reason to believe that Tockman has something big planned. He sent me pictures of Tockman's cell. There are strings of code on every wall." Felicity waves towards one screen distractedly. She immediately goes back to typing, eyes fixed to a different screen. "I can't figure out. I think I'm missing something. But I am trying to track him."

Her fist pumps into the air in triumph. "GOT HIM!" She points to a blinking red light. "Warehouse district, just off Sierra Drive. Be careful!" Felicity locks eyes with Oliver, thinking how much she would rather be on a date, sipping cheap wine and eating Italian because that's all they could afford.

His eyes mirror the sentiment as he squeezes her shoulder before turning to change into his gear. He disappears into the bathroom and Felicity turns back to the computer screen with the pictures of Tockman's cell.

"Digg, I want you to go with him. I don't like that I don't know what this code is. I want you watching his back." Her blue eyes pin him over her glasses.

Digg nods. "What about Roy?"

"Oliver doesn't want to get him involved for this one." Felicity focuses back on the screen. "Besides Roy wasn't involved last time either."

"Are you okay, Felicity? I know last time..." He trails off, leaving the words unsaid as his eyes land on her shoulder where her dress conceals the scar of her previous gunshot wound.

She huffs. "I just wish this job came with better timing."

Felicity registers Digg's confusion at her comment, but she shrugs it off. She's just frustrated because of course, the night they were going to go out on an official date, there would be a breakout at the maximum security prison housing a horrible criminal. Her luck was just that good. She lets out a huff of air and suddenly Oliver's now-gloved hand lands on her shoulder, causing her to jump.

He leans forward. "Sorry we have to postpone this date. Maybe we can just get ice cream and a bottle of wine when I get back."

"That sounds heavenly," Felicity responds, lips curving upward at the thought. Oliver's face is closer than she anticipates as she turns. He takes advantage and draws a kiss out of her before leaving her with a final hand squeeze.

Digg raises an eyebrow at her, but smirks as he follows Oliver out of the club and she swears she hears: "About damn time."

...

"This place looks empty, Felicity." Oliver slips through the warehouse, sticking to the black shadows everywhere. Scattered crates provide cover as he makes his way through the dilapidated building.

"I'm still getting electrical input into the building. Try looking for a computer or something." Her voice is slightly static-y in his ear, but it comforts him all the same.

"Digg, how's it looking outside?"

"A couple of homeless guys. Not much else."

Oliver scowls at the darkness around him, aggravated by this detour from his original plans. He just wants to get Tockman back into his cell and get back to Felicity. Row after row, the warehouse is empty, until Oliver notices a slight glow coming from a back corner. He nocks an arrow and moves slowly towards the glow of what he assumes to be a computer screen. Before he rounds the corner, he hears a noise behind him.

Spinning on his heel, Oliver lets the arrow fly in the direction he thought he heard noise from, but an incoming box knocks him backwards, bow flying from his hand to slide across the concrete warehouse floor.

"Oliver! Are you alright?" Felicity sounds close to frantic on the other end of the line.

"I'm fine." The words are chocked as he pushes the box away, crouch to avoid any more falling debris, his legs coiled under him, ready to spring. "I think we're in the right place."

He spots his bow in the light of the computer glow, outside of the safety of box shadows.

"Looks like the hero found his way into my little den. Is your little computer genius with you? She's a gem that one! Where did you find her? I can't even locate her computer anymore." Tockman cackles over a speaker, voice echoing through all corners of the warehouse. "She's special, but I bet even she couldn't figure out what I did. She's not going to win this round."

"Oliver, the warehouse is drawing more electricity. Whatever he broke out to do, he's going it now." He can practically hear her keyboard tapping through the comms.

"Got it." Gritting his teeth, he dives into the light of the computers, reaching directly for his discarded bow. As he does, electricity crackles around him and his body buzzes with the rush of energy a million times more powerful than static shock. The world around him goes black with the sensation.

...

"Oliver? OLIVER!" Felicity screams into the comms, jumping to her feet in the cold, lonely lair. Over the comms, all she hears is static so she switches devices and frantically dials his phone. It goes straight to voicemail so she quickly calls Diggle. He picks up on the first ring.

"What happened?"

Felicity breathes a sigh of relief, but anxiety still gnaws at her insides. It still feels like something is wrong. "There was a surge of electricity. It must have blown the comms out. I can't reach Oliver. Digg...I need you to check on him."

"Got it." She hears movement, slow and cautious, just like Diggle, but as each second ticks by Felicity gets more and more nervous. First she just plays with her necklace, next she taps her foot, after that it's tapping on the keyboard in a vain attempt to get better eyes on the warehouse. Then Digg's voice returns:

"There's no one here, Felicity."

"What do you mean-"

"I mean, there's _no one here_." She freezes at the wariness in his voice, the bewilderment. "No Oliver, no Tockman. There are three computer screens and a giant processor, but no people." Again she hears movement. "Something's very wrong here, Felicity."

"What? What is it?" Felicity sits forward, nails digging into the armrests of her chair.

"His bow."

Felicity stares into space in shock. "So they must have knocked him out and taken him." It's the only solution she can fathom. Oliver would never willingly leave his bow behind. Her body acts without thought, immediately pulling up camera footage and blueprints, searching for Tockman's escape route. He couldn't have done this without help, either. He wasn't anywhere near strong enough to take Oliver out by himself.

"Felicity, they couldn't have left the building without going past me and I didn't see anyone."

"NO! Digg he has to be there! People don't just disappear." There _has_ to be a logical explanation. She clings to that knowledge, there must be a logical explanation.

"Wait, Felicity, the computers are running some sort of program." A pause. "Felicity, listen to this."

Through the phone comes Tockman's wheezy voice. "Looks like you're too late. Your hero has vanished without a trace. I'm sure you'll understand it in time, but what will you do now? Your city has no guardian. It's ripe for the picking. You can search all you want, but your hero is gone to you and you will never find him." His laugh creaks over the speakers. "Give my regards to Slade Wilson. You'll be seeing him soon. Ta ta for now."

The blood runs cold in her veins at his name. "Digg...?"

"Shit!" She hears loud noise over the phone and Digg's labored breathing.

"What's happening?" Felicity stares at the satellite picture until she sees Digg's form race out a door. Her voice climbs unnaturally high, shaking against her will.

"He set the hard drive to explode. Sorry I couldn't get anything."

"It's okay, Digg. Just get back here." Felicity hangs up, collapsing back into her chair.

She finally lets everything go and her whole world tumbles down around her. Tears fall, covering her face in water that she can't stem no matter how she tries. She fights the despair filling her the only way she knows how: she pours all her worry and pain into her computers. She pulls up all the footage she can of the warehouse, hacking satellites for heat scans. She compares the scans to the blueprints. There has to be _something._ People don't just disappear. _Oliver_ doesn't just disappear. He wouldn't leave her here alone. He wouldn't. He always came back for her. _Always._

By the time Digg returns, she's accessed every satellite view of the warehouse, all confirming the same thing: there were people inside the building and then there weren't. It had something to do with Tockman's code from his cell. She was sure of it. God, it was like he was laughing in her face! She wanted to pull her hair out and scream in frustration. It was like last time they had gone up against him: she felt useless. Digg doesn't bother to ask her what she's found as she taps furiously away at her keyboards. He simply places Oliver's bow on the desk beside her, squeezing her shoulder before moving to the punching dummy.

Felicity's eyes land on the green bow, pain lacing through her heart. _Oliver, where are you?_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Sorry for posting late! I had a bad week with all my classes and the sheer amount of work I had to get done. As a result I am switching my update day for this fic...potentially Tuesdays. That said, I'm taking this in a very different direction from "Misplaced in Time"...one that I like better for the purpose of this story. Anyway I hope you like it. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any characters. _

_And please, PLEASE let me know what you think! I appreciate any and all feedback! _

**Chapter 2**

There was a tiny man in his head pounding behind his eyes and on his ear drums, his whole head throbbing in agony as he shifted under splintered pieces of wood from exploded boxes. He sifts through the slats, fumbling for his bow in the rubble. The jolt he felt must have been an explosion, not like any he'd ever experienced before but an explosion all the same. And now he can't find his bow. Great.

Grunting, Oliver pulls himself over a chunk of fallen wall, marveling that he made it through the explosion at all. He should have been squished. As he walks around the building towards his parked bike, he pauses. Where is that adorable babble in his ear? Where's that angry voice demanding to know he's okay? Diggle demanding he respond? Did he lose his earbud too?

He pulls the comm from his ear and sees scorch marks. He crushes the plastic device between his fingers and tosses it into the nearest dumpster. Felicity is going to skin him alive when he gets back to the lair. He palms his phone, unlocking it as he comes to a sudden stop where his bike should be.

He lifts the phone to call her, but the screen before him is cracked and black, obviously useless. Slipping the tech back into his pocket, he rounds the corner, searching for Digg, but the only figures he finds are three homeless men gathered around a barrel full of fire. They don't spare him a glance as he lurks through the shadows, uneasy. They should have run away in the explosion. How long was he out? Do Digg and Felicity think he's dead? He needs to get back. Now.

...

He enters the alley the back way, sneaking through shadows. He edges around a dilapidated phone booth with shattered glass, broken bits of glass cracking under his boots. One foot poised to step, Oliver pauses in the motion, falling further back into the shadows as he senses eyes on his position. His shoulders tense as he crouches in front of the wall. Uneasiness radiating through him, a chill settling in his bones. The cool handle of the blade in his boot fits in his palm like it was made for his grip. He waits, with baited breath as his eyes bore into the shadows for signs of life.

...

The figure watches him from its perch on the roof of one of the buildings. The figure's gloved hands flex around the knife it had been tossing a few moments before. It watches the man in green leather as he surveys his surroundings with growing interest. It's not often the figure finds people wandering into the alley of their own volition.

Of course, there are the random passersby looking for a short cut to the next street over, but those usually walk straight through without pausing. This stranger is lurking, with some indistinct purpose. The figure watches with vague curiosity as the man moves from shadow to shadow, almost seamlessly hiding in the darkness.

Sheathing the knife into a thigh holster, the figure rises from its seated position to mirror the man's motions until the figure perches on the edge of the building, in the shadow of a water tower. Seated in the corner, one foot hangs off the ledge while the other one is folded near the chest. The knife is extracted again, flipping through the air forty feet above the ground and the figure resists the urge to whistle and alert the man to its presence. It wants to see what this man is here for, what has him looking so carefully in the shadows.

...

The green graffiti arrow throws him off and he pauses in his search. Maybe he has the wrong alley because he's certain that wasn't there when he left the lair earlier today. And a green arrow? Wasn't that a little obvious? Besides he can't find...There it is.

Oliver steps up to the door, fingers ghosting over the keypad in practiced movements. His fingers wrap around the handle and he gives it a tug, but the door doesn't budge. He frowns and turns back to the pad, searching for the little green blinking light. He punches the code in again, this time waiting for the accompanying blinking light and series of clicks indicating an unlocking door. It never comes.

With growing wariness, Oliver spots the rust creeping in from the edges of the metal door and the screw missing from the top right corner of the electronic keypad. Felicity had talked about disguising the entrance to make it blend in, but he doubts even his girl could manage this degree of disguise in a couple of hours.

Desperation well inside him, building behind his carefully constructed walls, pushing against the barriers, slowly wearing them down. Where are they? If their base wasn't here, then where are Felicity and Diggle? Where's his girl?

Tired of waiting for answers, he reaches back into his boot and yanks out the knife, sliding it between the door and the frame, working it into the lock to wedge the door open. He braces himself for the live shock he knows is wired into the door, but he freezes when it doesn't come, growing more worried as he feels nothing.

He manages to leverage the door open and it pops outwards...exposing a brick wall.

"Shit." He lashes out and punches the wall, gritting his teeth at the pain as blood trickles down his knuckles.

"Damn. You always get that angry with brick walls?"

He spins on his heel to find himself face to face with a woman in black. He pauses at the familiar black leather jacket, but fishnet tights adorn her legs instead of Sara's practical pants. She stands taller too and her hair is cropped close to her head. The voice modifier twists her voice, but Oliver can recognize his ex-girlfriend.

He reaches for his own voice modifier before realizing it was probably fried too and won't do him any good. He raises his hands above his head and turns, hands in the air, smile teasing his lips despite the worry tearing apart his core. Laurel replacing Sara makes no sense, just like everything else he's encountered so far. Something happened while he was knocked out and until he knows what he's not going to do anything crazy.

"You know, you shouldn't go around dressed up in green leather and punching walls, someone might think you're crazy." She waltzes around, skipping lightly as she moves, smiling gracing her lips. "I mean, isn't that what they say? You have to be crazy to dress up in a costume and risk your life fighting people?"

"You have to admit: they have a point." Oliver's neck cracks as he whips his head around to the modified male voice. He recognizes the red costume, along with the boy inside it, but Roy's changed. He's hardened. Scars cut his face, along with a distinctive eye patch reminiscent of Slade. A red bow is trained on him with an arrow drawn.

"What? No answer? You do know the color green is taken, right?" Laurel pulls out a knife and starts flipping it over in her hand.

Oliver keeps an eye on both of them, but holds his breath, waiting for Diggle and Felicity, the people he wants to see most. If they're here, that means everything's alright. In the silence, he takes a deep breath and takes a risk, answering in his normal voice.

"Really? I thought I was being original." His heart races as he observes Roy and Laurel's reactions or lack thereof. Roy doesn't lower his bow and the only hint of recognition is a possible glint in Laurel's eye, but it's gone before he can fully see it.

"Original? If you had a bow, I would be calling you a copycat." Roy grits out. "So why don't you start explaining what you're doing here?"

"Besides punching brick walls," Laurel adds with a smirk.

"I'm looking for my friends. Have you seen a blonde IT girl and a black security guard around here?" He throws out the words causally, but above him he sees movement in the shadows. Laurel pauses and Roy loosens his grip on the bowstring.

Oliver tenses as Laurel meets Roy's eyes. "Sorry. No one matching those descriptions around here. Why don't you leave your name and number and we'll call you if we see them?"

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the shadow shift again, definitely another person listening in. All he can make out is a figure lurking, a shadow listening to every word. "Why don't you introduce yourselves first?" He keeps his eyes on the figure in the shadows: they're usually the ones pulling the strings.

Laurel snorts. "Black Canary. Arsenal. Pleased to meet you."

"Canary?" Oliver's eyes dart to Laurel, distracted by the name.

He watches as she pauses in her movements, smile disappearing as her gaze turns calculating. The shadow moves closer and Oliver tracks its progress. Judging by size, its probably Sara. She's the only person he knows who can blend into the darkness so well. It's her eyes he felt on her. He's sure of it.

"Are you gonna come out _Ta-er al-Sahfer_or will you keep hiding in the shadows?"

"Who are you talking to?" Laurel laughs, but Oliver continues staring at the shadow.

Sirens echo in the silence a couple blocks over and Roy glances in that direction. Laurel tilts her head as if listening to a comm. The two masks staring at him freeze in indecision.

The shadow finally speaks, another voice synthesizer in play. "You guys go. I've got this."

...

"You sure?" Arsenal asks.

She can sense the wariness in her comrades at the man's appearance. She's not completely comfortable from her perch on the fire escape either. It's his voice, the voice that haunts her dreams, that has her reeling. When all she saw was his silhouette, it was easy enough to discount his appearance, the familiar green costume. His voice...that's undeniable, even as it's impossible.

"Go." She watches them run to the mouth of the alley and their bikes, the roar of their engines screaming into the night.

"What's going on, Sara?" Oliver asks quietly, pleadingly. There's a crack in his voice that she's never heard before. "Where's Digg? Where's _Felicity_? What the hell is going on?"

She frowns behind her mask. She doesn't need him to confirm anything because she can tell already just who he is. She knows how he got here. She knows where he came from. She has all the answers and he has none. But he's also making all the wrong assumptions. Everything has changed. It's a whole new ball game and he doesn't even know.

"Please, Sara. What happened?" He pushes his hood back and drops his mask. She watches as he runs his hand over his jaw before staring back up at her. "Last thing I remember, I was facing Tockman and there was this explosion. My comm burned out...and my phone...You need to let Felicity know I'm okay. Where are they? What happened to the lair? Sara, you have to tell me what's going on?!"

She closes her eyes against the pain in his voice, before opening them with newfound determination. She vaults over the iron railing and swings to the ground, using a rod bridging the alley as a turning point to slow her descent. She lands in a crouch on the pavement before him in her slightly heeled boots in a practiced move.

She straightens, resting her hands on her hips more so they don't reach for him than anything else. His eyes widen as he takes in her appearance and she knows exactly what he sees: she's dressed in the same green as him, taken in to fit her. His bow is slung over her shoulders and if he can't recognize it, he's a fool.

His mouth falls open and his hand lifts towards her face. She barely hears his whispered, "Felicity."

As his hand brushes her face, she feels the yearning to lean into his palm and close her eyes in surrender to his touch, but she bites it back and reaches up to grab his wrist. She presses his hand into her cheek, savoring the touch she hasn't felt in five years before lowering his hand.

"Oliver..." She's had this speech planned out since they figured out what Tockman did, since they figured out he cracked the code to time travel. But right now, the words catch in her throat, choking the air as she tries to breathe. Emotions that she buried years ago rise to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her once again...

_"Felicity, what are you doing?" _

_"I'm still looking for his tracking signal. It's in his boot. It's the one thing on him that wouldn't have been fried by that power surge because it's encased in rubber." She frantically types away at the keyboard, glancing between three screens: one dedicated to the police calls that the they could help, the other to locating Oliver, and the final one dedicated to the code from Tockman's cell. She's printed up all the pictures. They're taped to her wall at home. She stares at them constantly. The answer is right within her grasp but she can't reach it, like there's bulletproof glass in the way. _

_"It's four in the morning, Felicity. You need sleep. When was the last time you got a decent night's sleep?" Diggle rests his hand on her shoulder, still decked out in Oliver's green leathers. _

_"I don't know. I've been a little busy." She knows exactly how long it's been since she got a good night's sleep: seventeen nights. Seventeen nights since Oliver disappeared. Seventeen nights since she slept for more than a couple hours a night. _

_"Don't make me force you to rest, Felicity. You can't keep working like this." Diggle pulls her chair back from the computers. "It took you months to find Oliver when he left after the Undertaking and this time he didn't leave of his own volition. We know it has something to do with the power surge, but staring at the code isn't going to make it make sense." _

_Felicity sighs as she falls back into her chair. "But Digg, this is the only thing I can do. You and Sara can fight bad guys and keep this city safe but this is what I do! And I have to keep doing something." _

_"John's right, Felicity. You need to rest. No offense, but you look terrible." _

_Felicity glares at the blonde, but it's half-hearted. She knows the truth of those words: she's seen herself in the mirror. Her skin is pale and the circles under her eyes have passed blue to turn black. Her hair is limp and her clothes are not up to their usual standards, but every time she closes her eyes, she sees the walls of code or relives every moment she ever spent with Oliver. _

_Sara pulls her from the chair and leads her over to the cot in the corner, pushing her down onto the bed. She comes back a couple seconds later with a bottle of water and a couple pills. She places them gently in Felicity's hand and waits as Felicity sighs in surrender. She downs them, squeezing her eyes shut as she lowers her head to the pillow, burying her face into pillows that smell of Oliver..._

"What is going on, Felicity?"

She focuses back on his blue eyes and holds her hands out to the side. "What does it look like, Oliver?"

She twists the bow off her shoulder and adjusts it in her palm, holding it up in front of her. "Your bow." But she doesn't hold it out for him. Instead she nocks an arrow and twists, pinning a fly buzzing by a street light by the wings to the brick wall. She turns back to Oliver, curious to witness his reaction. A blend of shock and awe cross his face. She smirks at that reaction. "I picked up a few things while you were away."

"Away?" His eyes sweep over her once again. "What does that mean?"

"Oliver-"

"GA, we've got a problem!" She wince's at Roy's yell over the comms.

"What is it, Arsenal?" She turns away from Oliver.

"He's not the only one who came through. We've got other time travelers." Roy taking a hit reverberates through the comms. "And they're prepared."

"We need back up!" Black Canary confirms.

"On my way!" Felicity glances back at Oliver. On one hand, he's always good in a fight, but on the other, he doesn't know how the team works anymore. "Sorry about this." And she knows it's only the element of surprise that allows her to take him down with a quick chop to the neck. She staggers as his weight collapses on her, but manages to shift him sideways to lean against the brick wall. She places her hand on the brick wall and hologram thrums to life. "Watchtower, place Oliver in the guest room. Not the cell. Follow protocol Sigma."

He disappears through the hologram as Watchtower takes over. They need to contain this. He can't be walking through the city that's changed so much in the last five years. Is he going to be happy when he wakes up? Not in the slightest, but he won't win any fight he tries to start.

"What are we up against?" She swings a leg over the bike and revs the engine, merging into traffic seamlessly.

"Vertigo." Black Canary squeezes out between labored breaths. "And this time he's managed to compel a whole city block of people."

"It looks like they're blocking us from something. They've formed a sort of perimeter around the University and they're not letting us through."

"The university? Isn't that where there was a power surge? Watchtower?"

"Scans indicate a spike in energy from an unknown source two hours ago. A similar spike was located in the warehouse district at the same time."

Felicity jerks her bike to the right, almost spinning out as she takes the corner at break neck speed. "Fudge. Something else came through with Oliver. Vertigo is protecting whoever that is."

"Oliver? You mean to tell me that guy in green was actually Oliver?"

"We can talk about it later. Right now we need to stop those people from hurting themselves." She rounds the corner and parks the bike, pulling padded escrima from the pouch on the side of her bike. Feet pound the pavement as she throws herself into the fight. Luckily, compelled everyday humans are not the strongest fighters.

"What did you do with him?" Black Canary grunts between blows.

"He's back at Checkpoint B."

"You let him in?!" Arsenal pauses in his assault, receiving a punch to the face in return.

"He's unconscious in the guest room. Watchtower is keeping an eye on him."

"You sure that's a good idea, _Green Arrow_?"

Her heart skips a beat at the implications in his voice at the name, the name that would have rightfully belonged to Oliver had he not disappeared...the name that should never have belonged to her...

_"Did you see this newspaper article?" Roy drops it next to her keyboard. The headline reads: __**Green Arrow Saves Starling**__. _

_"Tell me something I don't know, Roy." Felicity glances back at her endless reiterations of Tockman's Code. She doesn't have time for this nonsense. Sara and Diggle are patrolling and she's looking at the code like she does every night. The ping for his boot tracker is on constantly now, but nothing has come back yet. _

_"They've given him a new nickname. Now he's the Green Arrow! Seriously, Blondie, does adding a color to a name make him more heroic? I don't get it!" _

_"Really, Roy? That's what you want to talk about? I'm working on other things!" _

_"I know, I know. Finding Oliver. Yeah." He walks away from her, grabbing his red bow from the table and taking aim at the targets. "Whatever happened to him, don't you think we would have found him by now? I hate to be the pessimistic one, but what if you never find him?" _

_He recoils from her glare, sheepishly turning back to the targets in front of him. "Just saying," he mutters. _

_The code, the same series of numbers and letters she's been playing with for months, shines back at her from the glowing screen. She's tried every mix of code she could think of. Digg and Sara are the only ones keeping her from falling apart in despair. They keep her sane – forcing her to sleep, dragging her out of the lair from time to time, feeding her when she forgets. _

_And then there was the training. They'd always taken an interest in teaching her to defend herself but now Sara called it an emotional release. Digg claimed it helped her get to sleep. Either way, she was getting better, or at least that's what they both told her. _

_"What I don't understand is why they decided he needs a new name. It's not like the newspapers know it's a different person under the hood." _

_She drags her eyes from the computer screen to watch as Roy walks the length of the room to pull the arrows from the target. She pushes away from the table and grabs the spare bow from the display case along with her own quiver of arrows. She always feels closer to Oliver with a bow in her hand. In tandem, she and Roy fire arrows into the targets and he groans. _

_"Really, Blondie? I've been doing this for twice as long as you! How is your aim better than mine?" _

_"Maybe you should practice more." Felicity smirks at him as she yanks the arrows from the target. _

_"Maybe. But can you hit one of those tennis balls?" Roy picks one off the table, tossing it up in the air as a taunt. She contemplates the ball for a moment, before dropping all the arrows except one, drawing the string back on her bow and hitting the ball out of the air and pinning it to the pillar behind Roy. _

_Roy frowns at the ball. "I didn't think you would actually do that." _

_"She's a good shot." Sara saunters down the stairs, pulling the wig off as she moves. "Although I think that means she's practicing instead of sleeping." _

_Felicity shrugs, returning the bow to its place among the other weapons. "Sometimes it's just hard to fall asleep." _

_"And you've been sleeping here so it's easy enough to just wake up and pick up the bow." Sara finishes. _

_Felicity nods, accepting the truth as she plops back into her chair. The green code on the screen in front of her taunting her. It's the only thing standing between her and Oliver, the only thing waylaying her happiness. She couldn't abandon the code no matter how much it tormented her day in and day out. _

_"You know, we could probably start sending you out there too." Sara hops onto the table, watching Felicity with a smile. "We could get you your own costume. Digg's got a new name. You can get one too!" _

_Felicity snorts. "No thank you. I'm better here with my computers. Once we have a system that can operate itself, then I'll go out in the field." _

_"A system that can operate itself?" Digg pushes back his green hood and raises his eyebrows at the IT girl. "That would be pretty impressive...if you could pull it off." _

_She smiles at his teasing, an attempt to bring light-hearted banter back into their somewhat morose lives. It's tinged with sadness. "Is that really what it's going to take to impress you guys?" _

_"If you can create something like that, I would never question you again." Diggle swears as he returns Oliver's bow to its stand. _

_"Done! But first I want a code name as cool as Green Arrow." _

_Roy's and Sara's laughter echoes off the walls as Digg shakes his head... _

Felicity ducks another punch, swinging the stick around to knock the back of his neck so the man in the business suit before her collapses to the ground. "I told you: Watchtower is keeping an eye on him."

Black Canary laughs. "You think a computer is enough to keep Oliver in line?"

"I was hoping that this fight would end before he wakes up." She pulls a canister from her belt. "Face masks on!"

Pulling the ring, she tosses the can of knock-out gas into the crowd, wincing as civilians crumple to the ground. Black Canary and Arsenal walk over to her, stepping over dozing bodies. Felicity groans internally and the havoc and destruction wrought by what she can now identify as compelled college students. Vertigo must have somehow gotten into the dorms.

"So what are you going to tell him?" Black Canary asks, eyes watching Felicity's face for any kind of movement.

She sighs. If she had that figured out to any degree she wouldn't have knocked him out. "Let's just go see where that power surge was."

...

Scorch marks mar the floor of the foyer of the admissions building of Starling City University, spread out from a central point where the marble gleams pure white. Felicity crouches in the center, looking around. Her gloved fingers, coming away with ash as she runs her hand over the scorched sections.

"All the cameras are out," Arsenal reports from the outer edge of the circle.

"I'm getting energy readings similar to the ones found where Tockman and Oliver disappeared." Felicity meets Canary's eyes, rising from his crouch.

"So we just need to figure out who it was and how they allied with Vertigo." Walking over the burn marks, she leads the way out of the room, heading down to the cops. "Arsenal, Canary, how many groups of knocked out teenagers are we dealing with?"

"Three main groups. Canary and I each took a dorm and then there were the students in the street." Arsenal catches up with her, coming to an abrupt stop at her shoulder as she reaches the police barricade.

"Detective Lance." Her voice synthesizer clicks back on. He turns from his officers and walks to the blockade, hands shoved in his pockets.

_"What the hell happened here?" Laurel and Felicity both turn at the sound of his voice. Laurel shoots Felicity a guilty look as she smiles nervously at her father. _

_"Detective." Felicity nods in his direction, kicking the green bow further into the duffle bag at her feet. She tries to cover the movement as she steps forward, over the duffel to meet Detective Lance in the entrance to the room. _

_"Are you girls okay?" _

_'We're fine, Daddy." Laurel wraps her father in a hug and Felicity takes the opportunity to lift her bag off the ground and throw it over her shoulder. _

_"But what happened?" He glances at Felicity, but she kept her face devoid of emotion. _

_"There's a man back there. He's knocked out. He tried to kill...me, but the Green Arrow took him down." Felicity glances back at Laurel, to see the brunette nod in agreement. _

_"Green Arrow?" She meets Lance's questioning gaze with a mild smile. _

_"Who else would it be?" She would call him the Arrow, but she can't because to her Oliver would always be the Arrow. _

_"Funny. There have been reports over the radio that the Green Arrow and Canary are over by the docks...on the other side of town." Lance's eyes bore into Felicity and his daughter. _

_That was why she had been the one to come to Laurel's rescue when she got the frantic call two blocks from their new lair. The call had come over the comms, but it had been obvious that she was the closest. She hadn't been able to walk away and so she had come running. It was her first win and the guy and his three goons were all knocked out in the other room. Sara and Diggle would be proud of her. _

_"Unless you know someone else who shoots green arrows..." Felicity smiles innocently. _

_The detective gives her a long look, but she's gotten better at telling half-truths since Oliver vanished. She's been telling them to everyone and she knows Lance will find green arrows in there the same make and model as the Green Arrow's. _

_The detective glances between the two women, obviously unsure. He knows there's something up. _

_Laurel watches her father's face. "Dad, remember how you once told me that you didn't want to know who was under the hood?" He nods, glancing at the blonde IT girl, but Laurel continues. "Then don't ask about this." _

_Felicity moves to walk out the door, but Lance steps sideways to block the path. "Miss Smoak, are you okay? You look a little tired." _

_With a smile, Felicity nods with a stray peek at the girl she just saved. "I was going through a rough patch, but I'm going to be okay." For the first time, she feels the truth of those words in her soul. This morning she and Barry had a breakthrough with the code, one with a decent chance of panning out, and tonight she had proven to herself that she was just as capable of fighting crime as the others. They were going to find Oliver using that code, but until they did they had an obligation to protect his city. _

_With or without Oliver they were going to make the world a better place. _

"We've got the area quarantined in a block radius. Do you have any idea what's going on?" Lance rests his hand on his hips, taking in the bodies scattered across the quad of the campus.

"Vertigo." Felicity supplies. "They should be back to normal by the time they wake up. There are two other groups that were under his influence as well inside the dorms."

"Any idea what he wanted on a college campus?"

"We're not sure, but we're looking into it. This is your scene now." Felicity turns, jumping onto her bike and taking off in a fluid, practiced move. "Good luck, Detective!"

She takes off, past the cars with Arsenal and Black Canary on her heels.

"So what are we going to do about Oliver?" Arsenal asks again.

Felicity groans into the comms. "We're going to talk to him, Roy. What else would we do?"

"Well, this kind of affects a lot of things...like the Green Arrow, Queen Consolidated...the League..."

"I know, Roy." Felicity drives her bike straight through the holographic wall into their garage without touching the brakes. She fishtails into her parking spot, taking deep breaths as the others park in a calmer matter. She closes her eyes against the thoughts assailing her. She needs to master these feelings before she talks to anyone. She's going to have a lot to explain...to everyone.

...


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: First thing: Thank you so much everyone for the lovely feedback! I got this next chapter finished pretty quickly because I'm so excited about this. _

_Secondly: the guest Fight Scared...I really would have loved to have a conversation with you about your comment because while I understand where you're coming from, there's still a lot you don't know. I think this chapter goes a long way to explain some of those issues you had and why they were put in there. I have no intention of making Oliver a damsel in distress, but imagine finding yourself somewhere you think is familiar, only to find that nothing is as you remember. That was my idea anyway. Like I said, I would have loved to have an actually have a conversation with you. _

_Thirdly: There are some sad and graphic parts to this chapter! Be aware (they mostly happen in the italicized flashbacks). _

_Finally: As always, please PLEASE send me feedback! I love hearing from people! _

_Enjoy! _

**Chapter 3**

Oliver sits straight up, bolt upright as adrenaline courses through his system at his last memory. Recognizing the cot from the foundry, he rests his feet on the ground and cradles his head in his hands, relief coursing through him. It must have all been some bizarre nightmare. He runs his hand over his stubbled jaw. He really needs a glass of water and to get out of his uniform. Why did he even fall asleep wearing it?

He pauses mid-motion as the events of yesterday come flooding back to him, first bringing a smile and then a frown as he remembers the most recent ones. Suddenly the room feels less comfortable, instead piquing his unease.

Unconsciously, he reaches down for the knife tucked in his boot. His hand wraps around open air, suddenly feeling naked, a feat while he's alone in a room.

Carefully, he prowls across the room, cracking the door open slightly to peek out. The metal and technology of the lair greet him, glinting in the overhead lights. He can even see the salmon ladder, lit up with spotlights. He slips out the door, sticking to the darkness as he finally gets a good look at the open space.

He grabs another knife from the weapons table he passes. It fits comfortably in his palm as he heads for the stairs, or at least where he remembers them to be, but just like the bricked up door the stairs have been blocked off. And he can't locate another door in the basement.

"I know you're awake." Her voice is soft and his eyes snap to the computer chair. She's staring at the computer screens lining one wall, not even looking his direction. She looks smaller, curled in on herself in the seat, legs under her. "And I know this is confusing...like really, really confusing. I mean, do you even have any clue what's going on? You showed up thinking I was Sara, so I guess that should give me some indication. And I should have known anyway, but somehow I keep thinking you know everything, but that's ridiculous because we didn't even figure out what had happened until six months after you disappeared...and you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

She tilts her head to the side, sending a twinge into Oliver's heart as he stares at her. She glances in his general direction, blue eyes wide as a sad, half-smile plays on her lips. "You can come out of the shadows. I'm not going to take the knife from you or anything. We just didn't want you waking up and lashing out with it on some poor unsuspecting person, which is perfectly acceptable since you're somewhere strange and I totally knocked you out earlier...sorry about that, by the way. I had to help Black Canary and Arsenal...which is Laurel and Roy in case you hadn't figured that out.

"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions. But I'll try to answer them. It's probably best if you come out of the shadows because I have visual aids."

Oliver feels the corner of his mouth twitch up in response to her rambling, but he pushes it down. He's in a strange place with no concept of what is going on, but things can't have changed that much if she's still babbling. He steps out of the shadows, hands held up before him. He lowers the knife to the metal table and crosses his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow.

"Start explaining."

...

Felicity smiles warily at his aggressive stance, heart beating a bit faster than usual just at the sight of him. Stop it, she schools herself. You can hold your own with Batman, you can handle an angry Oliver Queen. You never had trouble handling an angry Oliver.

"Oliver, you have been missing for the last 5 years." She watches his face morph from amused to concerned to confused.

"That's not possible. Time travel is not possible."

She snorts. "That was pretty much the exact reaction I got..."

_"You've finally lost it, Lissy." _

_"I have to agree with Speed-boy on this one." Roy gestures to Barry, popping another chip in his mouth as he stares with the group at the wall of computers Felicity has set up on the wall, covered in the code from Tockman's cell. _

_"This technology doesn't exist, Felicity. This is light years beyond anything that STAR labs could come up with and they're the forerunners in this field." Barry stares at the lines of code, but he can't make heads or tail of the sequences of numbers and letters. _

_"And I'm telling you guys that this is a code for time travel. You input the time to elapse here." She points to a blank spot. "And here you input longitude and latitude. It's the only possible conclusion. Tockman somehow figured out the secret of time travel! There must have been some device to initiate it that he destroyed with the blast. Did you see anything Digg?" _

_He shakes his head, placing Oliver's bow back on its stand having just come in from a round of patrol. He's already heard this theory. "I found the bow and other computer-like machines." _

_"Plus there was a strange energy signature. And since then I have found three other occurrences of the same signature." With a flourish, she pulls up a couple satellite images. "All three instances were followed closely by an explosion that destroyed the building they occurred in. There was no evidence left as to what there! Don't you see?! This has happened multiple times so that means Tockman and Oliver aren't the only people who jumped into the future. Not to mention, we don't really know where they went because all the technology went KABOOM! And therein lies the problem." _

_"That's the problem?! Blondie, I think you need to check your definition of problem." Felicity glares at the teen in the red hoodie. _

_"I'm going to have to agree with Roy on this one. Lissy, this technology is not possible." _

_"You're impossible, Barry." Her hand smacks into her head as she winces. "I didn't mean it like that! I only meant that...what you do, with the speedy thing, that's not really plausible either. But I've eliminated everything else. Theoretically with this device, here," another gesture, "you would be able to jump through time and space. These blueprints are from the QC mainframe and have since been erased. That said, I don't know how they got ahold of these blueprints. I haven't been able to find anything that connects to Tockman and the multiple energy signatures point to multiple bad guys. For all of them, all footage has been erased or altered so I haven't been able to identify anyone yet." _

_"Wow, Blondie, tell us more bad news." _

_"Well, there is also good news! I usually start with the good news, but it's not like you believed me anyway...but good news! Right...so the good news is that it only appears to go forwards in time so we're going to find them again, eventually. And theoretically, the temporal displacement should leave another energy signature that we should be able to track." She spins in her chair, smiling triumphantly at her audience. _

_"I'm not saying I believe you...but if I did, I would say we should keep an eye out for these signatures. But we should also look into other possibilities." Barry moves closer to get a good look at the computer screens. "Because, time travel? That's more than a little crazy." _

"But you're being here proves me right!" She smiles triumphantly. It slips as she looks back at Oliver's serious stricken face and she pushes herself into a standing position, bare feet cold against the concrete floor. She cranes her neck. He's taller than she remembers. Her hands flail as she attempts to explain, finally letting the exhilaration of being right thrum through her veins until she's practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"What the last thing you remember?" She pushes her glasses up her nose, watching Oliver frown.

"I was in the warehouse going after Tockman. There was a flash of light and I woke up there a couple hours ago and came back to find you here." Felicity nods, looking around the lair as if for the first time.

"So, how do you want to do this? You want me to give you a play by play of what happened after you disappeared or just give you the highlights of the last five years?" She turns away from Oliver to drop into her seat, pulling up the files she's kept readily updated for the past five years. "Of course, when I say play by play I mean just a more detailed account. Nothing actually more intense. It's not like you need to know what we did every minute of every day for the last five years."

She glances over her shoulder, looking at his still tight stance. "So, which is it?"

...

He finds himself staring because her normal rants have somehow turned into something sounding faintly like a foreign language. He was finally getting caught up with the last five years he missed and suddenly it seems like he's missing another five.

"Are you sure it's time travel?"

She throws him a glare over her glasses, but his question is warranted. "Yes, I'm fairly certain. Five years ago, you disappeared on the night you asked me out to dinner. Then Tockman escaped so we decided to just wine and dine in my apartment, except we didn't because you vanished and Diggle couldn't find you. All he found before the building went kablooey was that bow."

"Where is Digg? And Sara? Where's Sara?"

Felicity's hand freezes over the keyboard. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He's been wondering about this since he got here. Sara vanishing wasn't extraordinary, but Digg's absence is palpable to him. Diggle would be here; he wouldn't be able to walk away while Felicity and Roy continued the mission. Something had to have happened to make it so he's not here. And Felicity's response isn't inspiring much confidence.

"Is he with Lyla?"

Felicity's hands fall in her lap and she turns to face him again. "You should probably sit down for this, Oliver."

"Just tell me, Felicity."

She sighs, pulling off her glasses to massage between her eyebrows.

"Tell me."

"Three years ago, Slade got off the island and returned to Starling. He didn't have the Mirakuru, but he's still a trained assassin...

_She trips on her own feet, floundering as she skitters to a stop on the stretch of pavement. Slade stands in the middle of the empty lot, two swords in hand as he glances at those assembled around him. Fear pulses through her veins, throbbing almost painfully as his eyes land on her, hatred evident in his glare. She shifts her stance, hands shaking the bow in her hand until she forces the arrow steady. _

_"Looks like the gang's all here!" Slade twists in a circle, arms spread as his eyes land on Diggle, Roy , and Sara before returning to Felicity. "I thought they'd be smart enough to keep you away. And to think...I once thought you weak." _

_"You stay away from her!" Digg's anger shocks Felicity back to her body, warding off her memories of the last time she saw Slade. _

_Slade chuckles darkly. The soft notes echo off the surrounding buildings filling the air with a slight chill. "I came here to get a revenge on the kid, but he's not here. He's going to wish he was. You see, I followed the electronic trial you left right to that little cottage in Europe and you know what I didn't find? Oliver Queen. And then I remembered your little gang here." _

_Felicity shifts her sighting on the bow as Slade moves around the center of the circle. She glances sideways at Diggle and then Sara, but both have gazes fixed completely on Slade Wilson. She reaches for the comm in her ear, activating it. _

_"Watchtower, focus satellite on this location." She bites her lip. This is Watchtower's first test run and she's not in front of her computers to make sure it's working. _

_"Watchtower task initiated." The computer generated voice echoes back. _

_"You're going back into Argus custody, Slade." Diggle advances, bow still drawn and suddenly the lot is a flurry of motion. _

_Felicity hangs back, arrow trained on the group as Sara and Digg take the lead, facing Slade together. She loses track of the flailing limbs, maintaining distance in case the worst happens. _

_"Satellite in position." _

_"Record area." _

_"Recording." _

_Felicity relaxes into her stance again, flexing her grip at the grunts and moans of pain, more of them recognizable as Digg and Sara than their enemy's. Across the open space, she witnesses Roy's tension mirroring her own as she forces herself to relax, moving her shoulders up and down as she draws in a centering breath. _

_"Yahh!" Sara falls back from the fight, arm held close to her body, hanging at an odd angle. _

_Roy takes a faltering step forward, lowering his bow, but Sara waves him back. It's only because Felicity is focused on the fight that she sees it happen. The sword slides in deceptively easy, so she doesn't process it at first. She doesn't connect the blood splashing onto the pavement or Digg slumping over as a result of Slade's attack until his knees hit the pavement and a cry is ripped from her throat: _

_"NO!" She starts forward without a second thought. She hadn't thought the blade had made contact, but she races forward and shooting the arrow for Slade's arm, which he dodges easily. She manages to clip him when she punches out with her bow, but Sara and Roy are also there, pushing him back as she drops to the ground next to Digg's twitching form. _

_Blood soaks through her black pants and the bow clatters to the ground as she reaches around to press her hand against the wound. Bile rises in her throat as the warm liquid bubbles between her fingers and she presses harder against his abdomen. Digg reaches up a shaking hand and grabs her wrist. _

_"You need to..." _

_"Shhh." She rips the sweatshirt off her shoulders, balling it up to press it to the wound, trying not to think about the sticky red residue drying on her fingers. "You're going to make it through this, Digg. Just keep looking at me. Listen to my voice..." _

_"Felicity...behind..." His hand moves up to press the sweatshirt into his own wound with a groan and Felicity spins, raising the bow from by her side on mere instinct as something comes swinging towards her head. _

_Her eyes meet Slade's over her bow even as his sword digs into the bow. He continues to push down, the force shaking her arms as she struggles to keep the blade from nearing her head. Using her legs for extra leverage, she pushes him back, drawing an arrow and firing at his chest this time. Even without Mirakuru in his system, he catches the shaft of the arrow, smirking at her over the projectile. _

_"Looks like you're the only one left standing." He tosses the arrow to the side and it clatters on the pavement. Behind him, she can just make out Roy and Sara's silhouettes. _

_Deliberately, she steps away from Diggle, conscious of how much blood he's lost and how much danger he's in. She crouches down, relinquishing the bow in favor of Sara's bo staff, abandoned during the fight. She adjusts her grip, thankful that Sara and Digg had taken the time to teach her. They would probably tell her to run right now. Every cell in her body is telling her the same thing: run. RUN. Live to see another day. _

_But if she does, if she gives in to these feelings deep in her being, who knows what will happen to Digg, Sara, and Roy. If she leaves, they will all certainly die. Oh, she knows they would all tell her to leave, to get somewhere safe and call for help. They'd tell her to call Barry or Amanda. They'd tell her to call the police. But she can't. They're the only real family she's ever had. They come to her not-so-great Thanksgiving dinners, and they tolerate her mandated "family dinner nights." They let her mother them and use her loud voice when they're being stupid. They're always there for her. _

_So she finds the strength deep inside her to widen her stance and ground herself. Does she have a chance of winning? Probably not. She's been practicing, sure, but can she beat a trained assassin? Not even close. And they both know it. _

_Slade watches her stance, adjusting his grip. "You remind me of Shado, you know. It's a pity we couldn't have met under different circumstances. I think I could have taken quite a liking to you." _

_Bile chokes her throat and she grips the staff tighter, waiting for Slade to make the first move. She has no illusions about this fight. She's not going to win. She's no match for him by herself and her friends are bleeding out all around her. She won't abandon them. _

_At least, unlike the bow, Slade's sword can't cut through the bo staff. It even glances off the metal with a sickly screech. She's amazed at the instincts allowing her to block his blows, but she knows one blow is all it would take. She feels the blade slice her skin, but the pain doesn't come until a moment later, blossoming across her abdomen, but the wound feels superficial and she can still raise her arms to block the next blow. She could feel the wet blood seeping out in a thin stream as she swung and twisted. She grits her teeth against the throbs of pain. Then she sees the red dot of a sniper sighting on his chest. _

_They've finally arrived: ARGUS. It's about time. _

_The crack of the shot echoes in the space between the buildings and Slade goes down. As soon as his body hits the ground, Felicity's feet are pounding the pavement. She skins her knees as she drops to rest her fingers on Sara's pulse. Feeling a steady beat she crawls to Roy. Horror fills the pit of her stomach as she stares at the crossbow bolt impaled in his eye, but she still senses a pulse and he's not lying in a pool of his own blood. _

_She scrambles over to Diggle, heedless of her own wounds, heart racing as cool, congealing blood soaks into her leggings. His skin looks sickly in the limited light and his hand is barely holding her former sweatshirt to his side. Eyelids barely raise to let him see her. He removes his hand from his side, reaching for her own. _

_"Li-" _

_"Digg, save your breath. ARGUS is here. They'll take care of you." She presses the soaked sweatshirt into his side for him, tears already running heavily down her face. _

_He shakes his head. "No, Felicity. We...both know I'm...not going to make it...tell Lyla...I love her." _

_"Don't you dare talk like that John Diggle! You are going to live through this! You can't let Slade Wilson kill you." She watches as his eyes slip closed and she shakes him, begging him to stay, demanding that he speak to her, reminding him all he has to live for. But the words are no use. His spirit slips away and she's left holding a cold hand as back-up comes running in too late..._

"He killed Digg." She swallows, thinking of the video Watchtower recorded, its first live trial. It's still somewhere buried in Watchtower's database, but she herself has never had the stomach to watch it. It was bad enough living those moments, horrible enough having her best friend die in her arms. "He also took Roy's eye." She runs her hand over her stomach at the eighteen inch scar she knows lies under her thin tank top. "ARGUS managed to take him down and he's in a high security prison now. I can show you the footage. It's here. Somewhere. But I really don't recommend it. Barry says it's hard to watch. I wouldn't know, but it was torture to live it. Why did you have to ask for the sad story first?"

...

He can feel the pain radiating off her from across the room and his instinct is to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, to soothe her as much as he can, to alleviate her pain. That urge overshadows his ire at Slade kissing his friend. It's followed almost immediately by guilt, all-encompassing guilt that crashes into him like a tidal wave, pulling him under.

"No! Don't you dare blame yourself for this one, Oliver!" She stalks towards him, bright eyes flashing in anger even if she looks less than intimidating in her light pink tank top and black leggings. "We all knew what we were agreeing to and we kept doing it when you were gone. You can't be guilty about that because this was our choice. We all have scars now, but it only shows how strong we've become. And not everything that happened was bad. Far from it. You wanted to the sad story first, so I gave it to you, but there is so much more. So-"

"Green Arrow, incoming transmission from the Flash. Designated: Urgent."

Oliver's head whips around to find the source of the electronic voice that seems to come from everywhere, but he can't find any speakers. His eyes finally land back on the computer screens as they thrum back to life.

"Answer. Hi, Barry."

In awe, Oliver takes a step towards the screens, where Barry's face is now reflected larger than life. If nothing else, this convinces him in time travel. He expects the baby-faced young kid who came to him for advice, but the man in front of him has definitely aged and matured. He's filled out, which is evident even in the screen that focuses mainly on his face. The infectious joy that once filled his face has dissipated. It still lurks just under the surface, but Oliver also senses his serious side has developed more in the apparently missing years.

Felicity falls back into her seat and Oliver follows behind her.

"Lis, you won't believe this, but Watchtower came back with two matches today to your energy signature search. Both are in Starling. I was dealing with the Reverse, so I didn't get the memo until now. Do you need my help? I can be down there in a flash."

His heart skips a beat as Felicity laughs, reclining in her seat and glancing up as him. He has no doubt he's staring at her in shock, which only furthers her amusement.

"And look, I know you think this is about time travel, but don't get your hopes up okay? Even if it is, what are the chances are slim that its Oliver. So-"

"Actually, Barry, the chances are higher than you think."

He crouches down to Felicity's level, assuming the camera is pointing there, realizing along the way that he might just look like an idiot. "Barry."

"Sweet Jesus!" Barry manages to fall out of the camera view and Felicity's laugher rings in his ear. Barry appears in front of the screen again and if Oliver didn't know better he would attribute it to a computer glitch. "Going to be brutally honest with you, Lis: Until this moment, I wasn't completely sure I believed you. I'm still not sure I believe you. This could be some computer trick."

"It's him, Barry." Felicity sighs, sitting up straight again. The change in temperature is palpable. The joking air is gone from the room, blow out like a candle. "And he doesn't remember the last five years."

"Like, at all?" Barry sits and the camera follows him. "No memory? He didn't go away somewhere and just decide to come back now. He didn't live another life for five years?"

"_He_ is right here," Oliver growls as both heads turn to him. "And no: I was going after Tockman and I got hit by something. I woke up and walked back to the lair to find the world upside down."

Barry's eyes bore into his, taking his measure before he leans forward exaggeratedly and whispers to Felicity. "Was he always that much like Batman?"

"Who's Batman?" Oliver frowns at the screen as Barry chuckles like it's the best joke he's heard in a long time.

"Damn, he really has been gone. That's amazing! Have you run any tests? We should probably get him over to STAR Land so they could run some tests. I mean, what kind of impact does time travel have on the body? And are the rest of your theories right? Or can we send people back? If so, should we? We also need to tell the team-"

"Wait! Slow down! You are not running any tests on me." Two pairs of large eyes meet his, both full of scientific inquiry. He knows what Felicity's like with puzzles and getting answers, but he's not about to be poked and prodded for the next couple of months until they figure out what they want to know. "I'm not a lab rat."

"Of course not," Felicity agrees with a nod. He's less sure of her resolve when she sends Barry a meaningful look. "Besides we've got other problems. He came through one but we don't know who came through the other one." She twists her chair to face Oliver. "Are you sure Tockman wasn't there with you when you woke up?"

Oliver shakes his head. "I was all alone."

"But Tockman was actually, physically there with you in the past? You saw him? Like the actual him...in person?" Felicity watches him carefully. "Did you actually see his face?"

"No, but there was at least one person in there with me." He frowns, trying to remember if he saw any faces.

"So Tockman might not have actually been there." Felicity turns back to the computer. "Watchtower, continue search T0 for William Tockman or his signature."

"Continuing."

"So basically, that other energy signature could be anyone? Fantastic." Barry scowls.

"If Tockman's been out there biding his time for the past five years, and I have no doubt he has, he's ready for this." Felicity starts tapping on the keyboard. "Black Canary and Arsenal got called to a problem on the Starling University campus tonight. The second energy signature was there, but it was being guarded by Vertigo so we didn't see who came through. He compelled two dorms full of students. The police are working on it now."

"Vertigo? I thought the Count was dead." He does it this time, unintentionally: he places a hand on her shoulder and she glances up at him in surprise. He pulls his hand back, unsure of what line he just crossed, but resolving to stick to her boundaries.

"The Count is, but Vertigo is a superhuman with the ability to influence people's minds. Much more dangerous than the Count." Felicity turns back to the screen. "Either way, he somehow knew exactly when to get there. He was ahead of us this time so that can't be good news. And if Tockman has been with us the whole time, that might be worse news, which is sort of depressing because that's not much good news in comparison. No offense."

Oliver stares back into her eyes, confused by her comment until he realizes she means that he was the good news and in comparison, it's not so great news. But she's already saying goodbye to Barry and the computers are returning to their black sleep.

She crosses her arms over her chest as she turns to face him. "So what are we going to do with you, Mr. Queen?"

...

"Here's the deal: I have to get to work in," Felicity checks her watch, "In less than five hours. So I'm going to sleep. Roy is going to come by in the morning and show you around the city and you'll probably end up spending the afternoon with Laurel. Oh, and as far as your disappearance: there's a money trail that places you in Europe for the last five years. I made it some backwoods cabin in Russia, so it explains you speaking Russian, but I wouldn't go around showing people your Bratva tattoo or anything like that."

Oliver nods, staring around her vivid apartment, bright colors jumping out, but it also appears too starchy, unlived in, like it jumped from the pages of a magazine. His eyes skate back to hers as she looks around with the air of someone searching for the right words.

"Oh! And just so you know, with your disappearance, Ray Palmer took over the company _without_ losing thousands of people their jobs. That's when you disappeared to Russia and Oliver Queen faded into a name of the past." She saunters further into the apartment, gesturing. "And here is the guest bedroom, you can stay in here. There's a box of clothes for you on the top shelf in the closet. Not that I kept your clothes or anything! It's just...I thought you were coming back so I kept some stuff...for you...just in case...anyway..."

Shaking his head, he smiles at her. "Thank you, Felicity."

"Right." She nods, in a satisfied way. "Good. Well, goodnight." She turns to walk away, but Oliver reaches out, wrapping his fingers lightly around her forearm.

"Can I just ask one more thing?" She raises an eyebrow but gives him a faint nod. "What-" He's suddenly overwhelmed by all the questions that come flooding to the surface. His intentions to ask about his sister, slip away with the desire to ask about her life as he stare into her blue eyes staring at him with such open honesty. "How's Thea?"

Her face freezes, closing off but her smile doesn't slip. It's her eyes that give away her stress. "She's fine. She's staying in the Queen mansion. She actually went back to running Verdant and she's got a chain of clubs across the country."

"Can I see her tomorrow?" He hasn't seen her since she left Starling before Slade's attack. All Roy would say was that she left the city, but he desperately wants to make sure she's okay, especially with the look Felicity's giving him now.

"We'll see."

He lets her leave with her unsure comment. There's something off there. He pushes it aside and meanders into the closet, immediately spotting the box on the top shelf and pulling it down. Inside he finds a collection of t-shirts and sweatpants that he remembers throwing in the laundry a few days ago and the thought sends shivers up his spine and he strips from his arrow costume, bringing the clean clothes with him into the bathroom to wash the dirt and grime from his body.

Later, lying in bed with the blank ceiling above him, he tries to figure out how he got here. The whole idea seems surreal and yet, he's seen the proof in everyone around him. He's been told incredible things, horrible things that he doesn't want to believe to be true. His instincts are at war: half telling him to trust her because he always has, but the other half tells him not to believe everything until he can see it with his own eyes.

He finds himself reaching for his phone before realizing it's not of any use. If it hadn't been fried in the blast of electricity, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway because no one's been paying the bills. He sighs and pulls himself from bed. Its Felicity's apartment: there's bound to be technology somewhere close.

Seven minutes later (at least five minutes longer than he thought it would take) he sits in front of a computer. The technology has changed dramatically but he manages to pull up the internet, frowning at the cartoon pictures of superheroes constituting her wallpaper. They have to belong to some comic book or something, even though the figure in green with a bow looks eerily like his costume. He shakes the thought off and haltingly types into the keyboard: John Diggle.

What he reads chills him to the bone and he shoves the laptop away, putting it decisively out of arm's reach, but at least answers one question: She's telling him the truth. And knowing the truth, he can't stay here and sleep. He's missed out on five years and he has to say good bye to a friend.

In the box he finds shoes and he slips out through Felicity's window, walking quietly through the empty streets, wishing he had a jacket to combat the chilly fall air. It's almost twenty blocks to the cemetery, but the exercise revitalizes him before he hops the fence and searches the rows until he comes to the stone he's looking for as the sun crests over the hill, bathing everything in a golden light.

_John Diggle _

_May 6__th__, 2016 _

_Friend, Comrade, Hero _

_We will always remember the sacrifices made _

He rubs his jaw and turns from the stone. The weight of his emotions hitting him with the force of a speeding eighteen wheeler, but he forces himself to turn back to the stone, still seeing the smiling face of his friend when they talked yesterday and he teased him for finally asking Felicity out. His response: "It's about damn time."

Oliver reaches his hand out to the cold stone. He can feel the tears welling up, but he pushes them back. He wants to say something, to tell his friend how important he was to him, to acknowledge his sacrifice in Oliver's absence. He wants to give a speech, an outpouring of the emotions roiling below the surface that he can't give in to. But all that comes out is a whispered "Thank you" before he turns on his heel and leaves the cemetery.

On the other side of the fence a familiar red hoodie waits beside a second hand silver sedan, sipping a large cup of coffee. Oliver pauses before walking over to join Roy, taking the coffee cup the boy holds out. Despite himself, he's impressed with his former protégé.

"I didn't see you following me."

Roy snorts, rolling his one good eye. "Please. Felicity called to tell me you vanished after looking up Digg on her laptop. Where else were we going to look? Plus, you looked up the address of the cemetery."

He chuckles in spite of himself, shaking his head. "Of course. So now you're the one babysitting me?"

Roy grins much to Oliver's chagrin, but the other man just pats him on the shoulder. "Don't worry: I won't make you slap bowls of water."

Shaking his head, Oliver slides into the passenger seat, flashing back to a similar car ride with Tommy his first day home from the island. Maybe today won't be so bad.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thank you everyone for your support. I really hope you like this chapter! And to blueskittlez (because I couldn't respond to your review): I know exactly how you feel about waiting for an email. I hope this one made you really happy. And the good news is that I wrote this in like 24 hours so there might be more coming relatively soon *finger crossed* _

_Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think! _

_..._

**Chapter 4**

"Miss Smoak?"

Felicity starts at her desk, hastily depositing her to go coffee cup on her desk before she knocks it over onto the rather pristine black-tiled floor. She smiles up at her assistant, fairly certain that the new intern is terrified of her. She scoots in closer to her desk, flipping the framed picture she had been staring at down so the group photo of her, Digg, and Oliver now stared at the desk.

"Yes, Mark?" The boy glances back over his shoulder nervously and Felicity stares through the glass wall to see what has him so distracted. Ray Palmer smiles at her and waves as he lounges on the armrest of the couch. "Mr. Palmer is here to see you."

"Yes, I can see that. Send him in." The boy turns away. "And Mark?" Wide brown eyes turn back to her. "Can you call Martha down in PR and ask her to come up to my office around 2? We need to talk." He nods and scurries away like a little squirrel. She huffs at his back, wondering what she ever did that managed to terrify him so much.

"His first day, he came in to you using your loud voice to chastise me for endangering your friends." Ray smiles politely as he slips into the seat across from her on the desk.

"Right. Roy got shot and Laurel almost lost a hand."

"They were fine."

"Doesn't change the fact that it was risky, but that's not what you're here to talk about." She stares at him expectantly. She didn't get nearly enough sleep last night, especially with the disappearing act Oliver pulled. Roy found him, but that isn't exactly inspiring confidence in her at the moment. There are too many unanswered questions in this whole time travel scenario and she doesn't like it.

"The energy signatures last night...they matched the ones from five years ago."

Felicity nods, feeling his eyes boring into her with intensity. She can't deal with this without more coffee. Taking a sip, she leans back in her chair. "I need to call a meeting. If I'm going to have to do this, I might as well only do it once with everyone there."

"Lunch break is in forty five minutes." Ray smiles dazzlingly up from his watch. "I can send out the memo..."

Felicity presses a button on her phone. The phone she had been puzzling over for the better part of the morning as she procrastinated hitting the very button staring back at her now. It's not like her to procrastinate. She hates leaving things undone. In all honesty, the button should have been one of the first things she pressed as soon as she saw Oliver back. She shouldn't have waited until now, but she had. Probably because she kept expecting him to be dragged away again, to disappear in another instant and she wasn't going to let herself get attached just for that to happen all over again.

She sighs. Who's she kidding? She _always_ gets attached..._especially_ where Oliver Queen is concerned.

Ray raises an eyebrow at the memo now scrolling across his phone, but doesn't say anything to the distracted girl across from him. "Good or bad?"

"A mixture of both." Felicity frowns at her computer, tapping colorful fingernails against the glass desktop. "There's a lot of information we're missing, which probably isn't anything good for us and what we do know just leaves more open-ended questions than answers. Plus, the good news comes with its own complications. They don't have to be bad complications, but it does make things...complicated."

"I'm getting that."

Tapping out a quick message to Roy, she swaps her phone once again for her expresso, savoring the strong flavor. Ray frowns at the motion.

"It must be pretty serious if you're drinking that much coffee. Did you sleep at all last night? You know, I can work back up for you while I'm in town." He backs down at her glare, raising his hands in surrender. He'd learned quickly not to Felicity Smoak. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

She nods as he leaves. "Don't forget: meeting in 45!"

...

Roy groans at his phone, distracting Oliver from their tourist stop at the newly built Queen Consolidated building. He's not sure about how he feels that they've kept the name while the company itself is under new management. It's reasonably surprising that all he needs for a disguise now is a baseball cap, although the jeans and t-shirt are probably helping with the disguise part.

"What's up?" Oliver asks, noting the scowl of annoyance on the not-so-much-younger-anymore man. It's vaguely disturbing that he and Roy are now much closer in age.

"Looks like you have to endure me playing babysitter longer than originally planned." Roy hops off the railing he had perched on and leads the way back to his waiting car. "Although, I don't see why it always has to be me. I should just drop you off with Lyla and the kids. They'd keep you occupied at least. I know I can't go over there without being tackled. It's probably one of the best exercises I've ever had."

"Kids?" Oliver stops halfway to the car. "I didn't realize-"

Roy glances back and then smiles. "Actually, this might be a fantastic idea. I'm sure Lyla would love to see us. Besides, I promised Maddie I'd come over to play sometime. Get in."

Oliver slides into the seat. "So Maddie is-"

"Madison Diggle. She was born shortly after you disappeared. Then there's John Andrew. He was born right after Digg passed. He was born premature and they weren't sure if he was going to make it or not for a while. He's just fine now. He just turned three a couple months ago and I swear he loves running around more than anyone I've ever met."

Oliver smiles at the thought, staring out the windows. "How's Lyla?"

"She's holding up. When she has to travel for work, Maddie and Johnny stay with one of the team. We don't really need three people patrolling the city most days, so we switch off so we can all get enough sleep to function unless it's a particularly busy night." Roy shrugs, turning carefully onto a side street.

It's such a contrast from the impetuous teen he trained on a nightly basis. Roy's been more careful about everything this morning: driving, walking, keeping a constant eye on him...he's glad Roy had good influences in his life. Throughout the morning he's developed a growing respect for the young man. Roy somehow manages to watch him without being overbearing, giving him a tour of the changes of his city while still being a bodyguard.

"We're here." Roy hops out of car, wagging his eyebrows at Oliver with an evil grin. "Time to meet the kids. Ready?"

With no choice but to follow Roy up the stairs to the door of the little town house, Oliver stops behind Roy as he knocks out a clearly practiced rhythm. From the other side of the door comes the mad dashing of little feet before a responding pattern is tapped lightly from the other side. The conversation goes back and forth two more times before the door opens to a brown haired girl who comes up to Roy's waist. She smiles brightly at Roy before she notices Oliver and takes a step back.

"Hey, Maddie! How's my favorite girl?" She lets Roy scoop her up in a hug, but her big brown eyes are focused on Oliver over his shoulder.

She leans closer to Roy, whispering into his ear with her little hand covering her mouth so Oliver can't read her lips. Roy laughs and turns around. "Madison, this is Uncle Oliver. Oliver, this lovely lady is Madison. She is the princess of this fair castle and the heir to the kingdom."

She giggles and buries her head in Roy's neck. "Uncle Roy! I'm not a princess!"

"That's funny because I remember you wearing a crown and making everyone bow before your Excellency."

Oliver smiles and bows to the little girl in Roy's arms. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your Majesty."

Maddie laughs again, but from behind the pair, Oliver hears the shattering of a glass dish. He raises his eyes to the startled expression of Lyla. At her feet, shards of glass mixed with ice water soak into the rung. Her mouth moves without sound.

"Mommy? That's wrong?" Maddie struggles in Roy's arms and Oliver moves past him to place a hand on Lyla's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Lyla."

A sob escapes her throat before her brows furrow. "Felicity was right?"

Oliver nods slowly, unsure what to do. Of everyone he's seen here, he knows Lyla the least of the three. Since Digg found out she was pregnant, she had been spending more time with the whole team, but that was five years ago in her mind. However the team was evidently an integral part of her family's life, and his showing up was a surprise.

"Good." She nods, brushing hair back from her face. "I'm glad you're back." She kneels down to start picking up the larger pieces of glass. Oliver crouches to help her.

"About John..." Oliver searches for the words as Lyla stills.

"Oliver, you didn't force him to take up the mask. We talked about what he was doing. We didn't go into it blind. We both knew the risks. We had guardians lined up if something happened to both of us: Carly, John's sister-in-law, or Roy. John might not be in their lives, but they have a collection of aunts and an uncle who love to tell them stories of their father, the hero." She places a hand on his arm. "John told me you'd come back one day. He believed it. I'm glad he was right."

She straightens. "So, who wants cookies? Because I know that's the only reason you came."

Roy grins. "Guilty as charged."

Oliver follows them and the smell of chocolate chip cookies to the kitchen. A small boy stands on a kitchen chair, reaching for the plate at the center of the table. He smiles guiltily as Lyla places her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing, young man?"

He plops back down with an innocent smile. "Nuttin'."

Lyla shakes her head. "Maddie, want to introduce your brother to Uncle Oliver."

She nods eagerly as Roy sets her on another chair. "Johnny, this is Uncle Ol'ver. He's in Daddy's pictures." She smiles proudly as Roy and Lyla pause behind her.

Oliver swallows thickly as he realizes both children have his friend's eyes. He crouches down to Johnny's level and holds out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, young man."

A sticky toddler's hand grabs his fingers in an awkward handshake with wide eyes. He smiles at the toddler and suddenly the boy is smiling back with a glint in his eyes. Hope blossoms in Oliver's chest, happy that a part of his friend lives on in his children.

Maddie taps him on the shoulder, a bitten cookie already in one of her hands. She speaks around the half chewed bite in her mouth. "Uncle Ol'ver, is it true you once lived on a magically island full of unicorns?"

Roy sputters and starts laughing hysterically, sitting down on the tiled floor from mirth. Oliver opens and closes his mouth in search of an answer to the truly bizarre question. "Umm..."

...

"You're such a cliché, Palmer. Changing inside a phonebooth? Really?" Felicity smirks at the business man as he exits the booth in a completely different costume.

"Yeah? Well, where did you change?" Ray challenges, glaring at the girl in green leather.

Felicity just smirks and walks past into the dilapidated photo booth discarded next to the broken phone booth, standing still for the scanner that slides up and down her body in a blue light and in a flash of brilliant light she finds herself walking out into a large metal room as Watchtower's voice announces:

"Welcome, Green Arrow."

She places her bow and quiver on the large round table in the center of the large room. A quick glance reveals her to be the first arrival, only to be shortly joined by "The Atom" and "Black Canary." They're still a couple minutes early and there are no dangerous threats at the moment, so they should all be here soon.

"Huh. Looks like the Bat's not here yet. I didn't expect him to be running late." Ray drops into his seat, lifting his legs to rest on the table, hands behind his head.

"Trust your instincts," Felicity recommends. Laurel nods to a shadow at Ray's surprise. His feet immediately fall to the floor as he gets a better look at the black shadow darker than it should have been.

Batman emerges from the area, nodding to Felicity and Laurel. "Good to see you haven't grown complacent in Starling City."

Felicity snorts, rolling her eyes at the dark knight...

_"If you know what's good for you, I highly recommend you stop that." _

_Felicity pauses at the sound of the harsh voice coming out of the shadows. She winces. She knew she had felt someone watching her. Why had she just brushed it off as nerves? Sara always warned her to trust her instincts. Damn it. _

_Turning slowly towards the voice, she gets a good look at a man dressed in all black armor with a cowl covering his head. If possible, he looks scarier than his gravelly voice implies. She smiles guiltily. _

_"See, I would love to, but these computers are carrying a virus that is going to go live in...three minutes and I really need to disable it. So either you're going to let me do my job or you're going to be responsible for the robbery of seven billion people which will inevitably lead to more than a couple suicides and murders. Then again, you might be working for the bad guys so I guess that might not be motivation. In which case, we should make this quick so I still have time to stop it from going live." _

_His eyes narrow in his mask. "How do you know that? Who do you work for?" _

_"Me?" She shrugs. "That's not really the point, is it? So I'm just going to get back to work." _

_"No! This machine is incredibly delicate!" Another costumed girl emerges from the darkness, curly red hair exploding from beneath her cowl. _

_Felicity snorts, ignoring her as she turns back to her ministrations. "Obviously, otherwise I would have just sent my boys in with their guns blazing because heaven knows, they have no subtly. Although, Canary totally could have pulled off the shadow thing; just for the record." _

_"Shadow thing?" The red head leans over her shoulder, staring at the code as Felicity types rapidly into the computer, resisting the urge to pull the black mask from her face. She had wanted to tell Digg he was crazy wanting her to wear a mask for this, but it probably was a great idea with these people sneaking up on her. "How are you doing this? Who the hell are you?" _

_The awe in her voice has Felicity smirking at the monitor. "Call me Watchtower." She glances sideways. "And you are?" _

_"NO WAY! _You're_ Watchtower? _The _Watchtower? That is so cool! Did you hear that?! She's Watchtower! You are, like, my hero! I mean, all that cyber stuff is beyond awesome, but I didn't realize you were an actual mask! I'm Batgirl by the way. And that's Batman. He doesn't talk much. He just broods in the corner." _

_Felicity smiles sadly at the reminder of Oliver. "I know the type." A few final keystrokes and she hits enter with finality. "And done. You're welcome."_

_"That's amazing!" Batgirl leans in close to the screen as Felicity slips past her. "You actually did it. And I wasn't sure I could do it." _

_"Happy to be of service. I'm done, boys!" She says into the comm unit, making sure all her pockets are secured. "Nice meeting you." _

_She opens the window and grabs the end of the arrow that lands next to the frame, heart beating quickly as she lifts herself up into the frame. She jumps before she can think twice, hand wrapped in the cable as she swings through the air. _

_Behind her she hears. "Damn. I like her." _

Felicity shakes herself out of her memories, eyes drawn to the viewing window. Right now, the window faces the Earth, a giant ball in a sea of black from their satellite base. Like the computer program in their lair, they call the satellite Watchtower. It made the most sense for the satellite keeping an eye on the planet and protecting it. This whole set up was her baby: an Artificial Intelligence program that tracked crime all over the planet and reported it to the proper authority or Watchtower outpost.

"Welcome, Flash."

In a flash of red, Barry appears in his chair. "So, is this what I think it's about?"

His eyes bore into hers and Felicity drops into her chair, more aware than usual of the green bow and arrow painted on the back as she nods. "Yes."

She sees the twinge of sympathy. "How's it going down in Starling?"

"Roy's on it, right now. He wanted to be up here, but it makes more sense having him down there for now." She pulls out her phone and checks the texts. "As far as I can tell, they're at Lyla's and Maddie is asking questions. Apparently she was listening to all those stories Roy invented about the island and unicorns."

Barry laughs. "Of course she was. She listens to everything."

"Welcome Green Lantern."

Felicity watches Hal Jordan as he nods and then drops into his seat, running a hand over his jar, obviously preoccupied. Of all the members of the Justice League, his home city is closest to Starling City and they've visited before, but they're not all that close.

"Welcome, Wonder Woman."

"Welcome, Superman."

The two titans find their seats without much comment. It's almost time to start their meeting. Felicity once again feels the vague sense of unease in their group's similarity to gods: they sit above the world talking about the humans below and making decisions, some of them exercising superhuman powers, some of them not even human themselves. Sometimes the whole situation seems unreal. She's not sure she can even explain this to Oliver as she looks at the aliens, superhumans, and heroes surrounding her, united for a single purpose: protecting planet Earth. How do you explain that to someone who wasn't here to witness it?

...

"Actually, there were no unicorns on the Island," Oliver manages to inform Maddie...for the fifth time. The girl isn't buying the story because Uncle Roy has clearly told her this multiple times so Uncle Oliver must have something confused.

She frowns at him over the table, before she pushes away and runs around to grab his hand. "Come on!" She tugs at his arm until he follows her from the kitchen down the hall to a room covered in toys. "Let's play a game!"

Johnny follows them in, Roy tagging along with amusement written all over his face.

"Here." Maddie shoves a toy into his hands. "You can be Flash. He runs really really fast."

Oliver stares wide-eyed at the plastic version of a costumed Barry Allen as Roy throws his head back, laugh echoing around the room. She rounds on him.

"Uncle Roy, you can be Batman. You're a good Batman." Obligingly Roy lowers himself to the carpet, adapting a low, gravelly voice.

"I am Batman."

He ignores Oliver's raise eyebrow as he moves the figure around. Maddie places her hands on her hips as she stares into the bin of toys. "Johnny can be Superman and I'll be Wonder Woman and Green Arrow. You can also be Black Canary," she informs Roy before turning to Oliver. "And you can be the Atom."

Roy starts chuckling again as he picks up the action figure of Laurel, using the doll to wave to Oliver. Oliver stares down at the figures in his hands. Of course he knows Barry and Laurel, but the rest of these figures, except for Green Arrow are completely confusing. Apparently, masks are more common in the future.

"So the Justice League is fighting against an alien invasion. AHHHH! Oh no! The aliens are attacking. I can't shoot them all. I don't have enough arrows!" Maddie starts moving her figures around as she talks. Oliver glances at Roy, but the boy is getting into character, speaking in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Green Arrow! I'm here to help!" His Batman character comes to the rescue against the attacking "aliens" which turn out to be a collection of stuffed animals. His voice turns high pitched. "Me too! We'll stop this invasion."

Maddie pauses to giggle at Roy's impression of Canary. Oliver raises an eyebrow and Roy shrugs in response.

"Come on, Uncle Ol'ver! You have to play."

Oliver moves the Flash forward. "Here I am to help!"

"No! You have to save the civil'ins. The innocent people," Maddie explains with a pout. Oliver smile and agrees, moving Barry's figure all over the place.

The rest of the game blurs together in his head as he follows Maddie's instructions. About ten minutes in, Johnny loses interest and starts playing with a plastic toy car. Oliver continues on with the game, completely baffled by the imaginary world that appears before Maddie's eyes. He knows Roy can't see it either, but he still manages to anticipate every move Maddie wants to make and he doesn't argue a single move.

"And now Batman kisses Green Arrow. Mwah!" She giggles as she presses the character's faces together. "Just like it happened on TV!"

"On TV?" Oliver asks, voice rising.

"Yeah. We watched the highlights of the fight yesterday because it was the year annivers'ry. I remember Mommy being scared when it was happening. We had to stay with Aunt Carly."

Roy guiltily runs a hand through his hair, sheepishly smiling at Oliver. "Yeah, so welcome to the future. We've had an attempted alien invasion. And we've got a team of heroes who protect the Earth. Ta da!"

Oliver stares at the figures scattered on the floor. A team of heroes? What?!

...

"So...what is this meeting about?"

Felicity smiles at Hal, standing up. "Yesterday at 22:00 in Starling there were two instances of energy radiation matching those that occurred in late 2014: One in the warehouse district, the other in the middle of the Starling City University. Shortly after the surges, a figure arrived outside our primary lair, one recognizable as Oliver Queen." She definitely has everyone's attention now. She can feel all eyes on her. "The last thing he remembers is five years ago and he doesn't appear to have aged a day. We do not know who the other traveler was, but Vertigo was there to stall us when we went to check it out. And it turns out Tockman might not have disappeared on that day. Watchtower is now searching for traces of him over the past five years."

"Wait! Are you talking about time travel?" Superman asks, confusion filling his voice.

"Trust me. I had the same reaction, but he doesn't look any older than the last I saw him." Barry shrugs at the other man.

"Are you sure it's Queen?"

Felicity nods and Barry snorts. "He's one of a kind, Bats. Just like you."

"You do realize that doesn't make any sense, right?" Laurel asks, raising an eyebrow at the speedster.

Barry shakes her off. "The point is that he's back and we need to figure out what to do with that, because someone else is the Green Arrow now. And you have to bring Oliver Queen back to the states anyway. And tell him everything that happened in the last five years."

"He's missed a lot." Laurel agrees, glancing at Felicity with a worried look on her face.

"He could be some sort of shape shifter," Batman points out, staring sharply at Felicity. She sighs and meets his eyes. She doesn't know how to explain she would know a fake Oliver with her eyes closed. It's what she does: she recognizes people.

_"Can I help you?" Felicity brushes her long blonde hair from her eyes, smiling politely at the fancily dressed man before her. He looks slightly familiar, but she can't place it. "Sorry! That came out a little rude. I didn't mean it like that. I promise. I was just wondering why you were sort of staring at me, which I guess now that I think about it, that's a little rude." _

_"I was captivated by the most beautiful woman in the room." _

_Her mouth falls open at the compliment before she throws her head back and starts laughing. "That's smooth. I'll give you that much. But I'm just here to use big words and talk people into giving up their money. Not that I'm not doing worthy research, but it just seems a little ridiculous to talk to people about what you're doing. Besides I've never been good at this whole mingling thing. I tend to babble...which will stop in 3...2...1..." _

_The man throws her a charming smile, slightly different from the one before, but only because there's now a hint of laughter in his eyes as well. He's actually entertained. It reminds her of Oliver. She shakes her head to get rid of the comparison. It's nothing. _

_"I'm Felicity Smoak: Head of Applied Sciences at Queen Consolidated." _

_"It's a pleasure, Miss Smoak." He lifts her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles and her heart skips a beat despite her scolding it. "I'm Bruce Wayne." _

_Her mouth falls open. Another billionaire CEO with a fake smile in a city with a vigilante...coincidence? No. Felicity, stop jumping to conclusions. Just because someone's rich, doesn't mean they run around the city at night saving people's lives. But...he is built similarly to Oliver: there's a lot of muscle there. She can't help but notice that he looks ruggedly handsome, not that she's noticing. More like not noticing. She shakes her head to clear it. _

_"Bruce Wayne, as in billionaire Bruce Wayne, the man who brings four supermodels with him wherever he goes? Where's your entourage now? Did you give them the night off so you could pick up unsuspecting girls?" _

_Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Digg coming closer, sensing her anxiety. Curiously, Wayne notices the movement too and counters it subtly. "Actually, Miss Smoak, I don't go everywhere with supermodels. They're more just for the media. I like my women more well-rounded." _

_Felicity snorts at the line, rolling her eyes. He reminds her of Oliver asking for her help with the coffee-spilled lie and a bullet-riddled laptop. Back then she had no idea what he might have been doing. She just knew something was up. Now she had a better idea, but why would he be talking to her? _

_She freezes as she remembers the other night when she ran into Batman and Batgirl while working on the tech. Obviously, there were a limited number of people who could do what she did in disabling that virus. And if they were half smart, they would be able to track her down. It looks like they did. _

_"So how's your red-headed friend?" She crosses her arms over her chest, unimpressed. She watches as his face adapts a confused look even as his eyes harden slightly. He's on guard now. She slightly shakes her head to Diggle and he falls back, still watching from a distance. _

_"I'm afraid I don't understand." _

_"Come on, Bruce. Let's not beat around the bush. Your friend used her own considerable computer skills to hunt me down, right? And you decided to come here and see if I was the girl who took care of the computer virus. I'm not stupid. If it makes you feel any better, you were right." _

_The fake mask disappears in an instant, melting away into a contrasting serious face and she smiles brightly. "And there we go. The mask is gone." _

_Bruce smiles tightly. "How did you know?" _

_"Call it an educated guess." She smirks as she takes a sip of her champagne. Okay, so she's a little smug, but let her have this one. She just unmasked another vigilante successfully without finding him in the back of her car bleeding out. _

_"How?" _

_"Wow, Mr. Grumpy-pants. I may be a dork who babbles a mile a minute, but I'm actually pretty good at reading people. And like I said before: I know the type." She tilts her head to the side as she considers the man before her. "Although, I'd love to hear your origin story: why you decided to do this. Maybe we could talk about that sometime." _

_Bruce shakes his head incredulously at the girl in front of him. He's not quite sure what to make of her. She's an unknown he wants to keep his eyes on. _

"You're positive?" He asks one last time.

Felicity sighs and nods. "Yes, but if you want to talk to him yourself, I'm sure we could manage that too." She offers him an unimpressed glare, but she also knows how Bruce works after four years. He has to verify everything.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Ray asks, frowning at her.

"A problem?" She turns to him with a frown. "In what way? He doesn't own controlling shares in his own company, but his account has accrued a nice little nest egg. He's not going to be any trouble there. That said, we haven't really had a chance to talk."

Ray shrugs, glancing away again. He affects a nonchalant pose, but Felicity can see the underlying tension in the rigidity of his shoulders. She glances at Laurel, but the lawyer simply shrugs.

"So what is the purpose of this meeting?" Wonder Woman asks, leaning forward looking every inch the Amazon queen. "This seems to be an internal issue for Starling City. I do not mean to belittle your city, but this League was formed to protect the Earth and I fail to see how the return of your predecessor could harm the world."

Felicity nods. "The worry I have is more about the unknown time traveler who escaped with the help of Vertigo. When villains team up, it's never a good sign. And we know Vertigo wasn't the time traveler because he has been around for the last couple years. If this is all part of Tockman's plan we should be worried. The Clock King is a major strategist and we should all be on guard. He could be anywhere. That was really all I wished to inform you of. Watchtower will notify each of you if she recognizes the same energy signature. We'll keep you informed on the status of my...predecessor."

"Very well then. I have business to attend to in the capitol." Wonder Woman nods politely and walks back out through the teleporter.

Hal stands next. "I'll keep an eye out in Coast City. If you need help, feel free to call."

Why had she imagined this going so differently? It was almost anticlimactic. Barry nods and places a hand on her shoulder. With a smirk, he tells her:

"I can be there in a flash."

Laurel groans across the table, pushing out of her chair and walking towards the teleporter. "And on that note, I'm gone. Have to get back before they miss me. Coming, Atom?"

Felicity turns to face the two remaining men as the teleporter flashes behind them. Bruce is glaring at her, arms crossed over his chest clearly not pleased with the turn of events. Superman's eyes dart between the two, shifting from foot to foot.

"What is it, Bruce?"

"You're letting your emotions blind you."

Her snort cuts through the air. "Really? Blinded by emotions? You're more than welcome to come back with me and talk to him, Bruce. I can promise you it's not wishful thinking."

"Time travel doesn't exist!" Bruce growls, standing and coming around his chair. "Oliver Queen died five years ago. You have a brilliant mind, Felicity, but this is just impossible."

"I know you think I'm delusional with this theory, but it _is_ him. You might as well come with me and see for yourself." She doesn't wait for him, turning on her heel and walking into the teleporter arriving in their lair. She imagines Bruce and Superman are now having a talk about morals and trust or something along those lines. There's no doubt in her mind that regardless of the conversation, she's going to be receiving a visit from Bruce Wayne in the next couple days. So the meeting may not have gone the way she thought it would, but the results were exactly what she expected.

...

"Here. That's the team." Oliver takes the proffered picture and finds himself staring at the real life representations of Maddie's action figures. There are a couple more costumed figures, including Roy's Red Arrow. They stand in front of the White House, the tallest man in bright primary colors with a large S on his chest shaking hands with the president. "They saved the world from an alien invasion."

"The Justice League of America?" Oliver asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I know! Cheesy, right?" Roy sighs. "I tried to convince them to come up with something more original or less boring, but it's not really a group with creative names. I mean, you've got Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Black Canary, Green Lantern, The Flash, The Atom, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and the big guy is Superman."

Oliver takes them all in. It's unbelievable really. Five years and the world meets aliens and accepts the idea of heroes, embraces them even. He lowers the picture, feeling antsy once again. He needs to be doing something. He needs to punch someone. He can't keep pushing everything down. Something has to give.

Roy glances down at the phone and back up. "Let's head out to the foundry. You look like you could use a good workout."

Oliver releases a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "You sure?"

Roy chuckles and holds up his phone. "I've been given the all clear. Although there's a good chance they're just putting you on display."

"What?"

Roy shrugs as he leads the way to the car. "The foundry is a great workspace, but we mostly just use it when we're expecting visitors."

"Visitors?"

"It's like a testing base. It has all the workout equipment, a couple computers and weapons, but mostly just workout stuff. We've had a couple showdowns there with visiting masks. It gets pretty intense."

Facing forward, Oliver wonders which of the photographed heroes will show up and why they would be interested. On the bright side he'll be able to work out some of this tension. And everything about the world just makes more sense while he's exercising. It's like everything finally clicks once he starts moving. Everything will be better.

He immediately changes his mind as he follows Roy down into the familiar lair, eyes landing on Felicity in skintight black leggings and a sports bra as she spars with Laurel, a man in a suit leaning against a pillar watching. Suddenly this doesn't seem like such a good idea. This place feels like coming home despite the change in everything. He's unsurprised at the salmon ladder still hanging in the corner. A smirk flits across his face as he remembers Felcity's voice: _I kept that. I liked watching you do that_.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Laurel challenges as Oliver's feet touch the cement floor of the foundry. "What took you so long Roy?"

"Maddie introduced Oliver to the Justice League so I showed him a couple pictures. How did the meeting go?"

"About as expected," Laurel answers, she shrugs.

The man in the suit joins the group and Oliver recognizes him instantly, hands instinctively curling into fists, but Felicity steps between them, small hand landing on his fist.

"Oliver, Ray is a mask. He's not on Team Arrow, but he's an ally. He's welcome here. Why don't you get changed into workout clothes? God knows you're probably itching to hit something."

A few minutes later, he returns to find Laurel and Roy sparring. Ray has disappeared and Felicity waits for him, tossing him a roll of tape for his knuckles before heading over to the mats that now cover about three quarters of the foundry. He sighs as she sinks into a fighting stance across from him, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. Reluctantly he mirrors her stance, noticing how comfortable she appears with the stance. Sara's had five year to teach her, he reminds himself sternly. She knows what she's doing. There's no reason for him to hold back.

She smiles then, like she can read his mind. "Let's see what you've got, Queen."

His lips twitch as he moves in for the first attack. Why does he have the feeling this woman is going to be the death of him?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Oliver groans as he presses the bag of peas into his shoulder. Somehow he didn't think she would hit him that hard, but she had proved him wrong. Felicity hadn't held back in the slightest while they sparred. He wasn't even sure she could beat him at first, but then she had thrown the first punch that barely missed his face only because he was able to react fast enough. Looking back, he doesn't know why he thought it would be an easy fight. He could easily see Sara's training in her movements from the beginning of the fight. Then there were the street fighter instincts that emerged, that was when the fight got real and he found himself working harder than he ever had before, even while fighting Sara.

Felicity joins him in the kitchen, hair still wet from her recent shower. She pulls another bag of frozen peas from the freezer and presses it into her ribs with a groan, pouring herself a glass of wine and hopping up on the counter across from Oliver.

"How're your ribs?" Oliver asks, nodding towards her midsection.

"They're fine. How's your shoulder?"

Oliver smirks. "I've had worse."

"Yeah, I remember," she takes another sip, watching him carefully. She's more at ease around him now, he realizes. The fighting was therapeutic for her too. He fights back the smile threatening to come out. He's not going to lie: it was kind of a turn on to fight her, the physical exertion felt good.

"Right." Oliver nods solemnly, his eyes drinking her in, letting himself feel the lust pulsing in his veins because he can see it mirrored in her eyes.

"So I went out and got the last few ingredients for your lasagna. Lyla and the little monsters will be here in half an hour. Maddie's super-excited to be seeing Uncle Ol'ver again." Laurel walks right into the kitchen, depositing bags on the counter.

Oliver shifts, breaking the staring contest with Felicity to smile politely at her.

"I can't believe you made such a great impression on her at the first meeting." Laurel frowns at him and he finds himself distracted by her now-long hair. "She used to cry whenever I got near her. Felicity on the other hand, well, everyone just loves Felicity. I really don't get how you do it. Do you just smile and people fall in love with you?"

Felicity rolls her eyes and Oliver's surprised by the joking tone of Laurel's voice. He glances between the two, once again unsure what to make of the situation he finds himself in so he asks the one question he thinks is safe.

"Where did the long hair come from?"

"It's a wig. Voila!" She pulls the brown mop from the top of her head with a flourish. She replaces it carefully. "It's a lot easier to deal with this on a daily basis than to try to fight with one. So I shaved my head and bought a wig."

Oliver nods, not sure what other reaction he should have.

"So, Lissy beat you up pretty bad, didn't she?" Laurel asks, punching him playfully in the arm.

"Not exactly," Felicity answers, dropping her bag of peas as she pulls out a pot from a cabinet.

"What? Time Travel Boy won?" Laurel narrows her eyes at Oliver.

He nods, handing over his bag of peas at Felicity's demanding gesture. "She made me fight for it."

"I should hope so." Laurel frowns, glancing back at Felicity prepping the lasagna for dinner. "She was trained by Sara, Diggle, _and _Nyssa."

"Well, I knew about Diggle and I assumed Sara, but _Nyssa_?"

Felicity shrugs. "After Digg passed, I realized his and Sara's training wasn't enough. And Nyssa offered."

"And don't forget the Bat!" Laurel adds, popping a shred of lasagna noodle into her mouth as she plops on the counter. "You trained with him for a while too."

"This would be Batman?" Oliver asks, leaning forward.

Felicity and Laurel both turn back to him, surprised. He shrugs, eyes taking in how they both paused. "Roy's been catching me up. And Maddie wanted to play with her action figures."

They nod in understanding. "Yeah, Maddie loves those toys," Laurel agrees, glancing sideways as she slowly answers.

"Yeah. I got that impression." They know exactly what he's talking about. He can see it in their eyes as they share a silent conversation.

"So, Oliver won the fight...what does that mean for the team?" He lets Laurel drag the topic away from Batman, curious but not wanting to push the issue. Besides, he wants to hear the answer.

"Right now, it doesn't mean anything. We sparred, he won. End of story. Watchtower's still searching for more energy signatures that match the Time Radiation. We need to figure out this bad-guy situation before I start worrying about Oliver's place. No offense, but in terms of priorities, evil villains are higher on the list. Also we don't want you going out in the field until you're caught up with everything that happened. Plus, there's the team that you're going to have to meet if you want to be the Arrow again. Although, it's now Green Arrow, so there are other complications. Plus the whole, I'm a girl and you're obviously...not."

Laurel bites her lips in an attempt to not smile at the rant. Felicity turns bright red and smiles apologetically. "Sorry...as you can see I haven't quite gotten over the whole rambling thing..."

He chuckles, feet dropping back to the floor as he reaches out to squeeze her shoulder. "That's okay. It's familiar...comforting."

She smiles back, reaching up to return the hand squeeze before she continues to make the lasagna, humming under her breath and sipping occasionally on her wine. Oliver falls back to sit on a chair around the table, drinking his own beer slowly trying to work out the pain in his shoulder by rotating it.

The doorbell rings and Felicity glances back at Laurel, slowly lowering her wine glass from her lips to the counter. She smiles reassuringly at the two of them. "I'll get it. Laurel, can you keep working on this?"

Laurel nods, but Oliver's not the only one on guard in the kitchen as Felicity moves down the hall. He follows her, leaning as casually as possible against the doorframe while keeping an eye on the door. Apparently, Roy and Lyla would just walk right in, so whoever it is is unexpected.

...

She can feel them behind her, watching her back as she reaches for the door handle. She sighs. When did she get this paranoid in her daily life? She still left her door unlocked during the day for goodness sakes. She can take care of herself.

A single glimpse at the suit and she knows the man on the other side of her door, immediately relaxing. She raises an eyebrow and steps back, gesturing into her apartment. "You might as well come in."

"It's lovely to see you too, Felicity," he greets, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek.

She rolls her eyes, closing the door behind Bruce Wayne as he saunters into her apartment in his obnoxious, arrogant gait and a satisfied smirk on his face. She closes the door and notices the stare-off Oliver and Bruce managed to get into when she had her back turned.

She slips past Bruce and exchanges an eye roll with Laurel through the doorway. Laurel shrugs, because really, what else did she expect? And Laurel has a point. She knew there was going to be some sort of showdown when Bruce and Oliver met. After all, it was something she'd witnessed before...

_"What the hell are you doing here?!" _

_"I heard you were having some trouble and decided to stop by." _

_"And that somehow translated to you coming to Starling and beating people up in the middle of the night? And sneaking into a woman's apartment when you barely know her? Is that part of your helping? Because from my point of view, you seem like a creeper and a robber." _

_"Well, your reactions are superb," Batman comments wryly from his position under her on her green carpet. _

_Bright red, she stands and falls back a couple steps, trying and failing not to think about how a few seconds ago she was straddling Bruce Wayne dressed as Batman. Seriously, what was it with her and billionaire vigilantes? _

_"I didn't take you for much of a fighter last time we met." He gets to his feet and the cape still reaches the ground. _

_"I've been training." She crosses her arms over her chest, suddenly very conscious of the fact that she's in her pajamas and definitely not wearing a bra under the large t-shirt, which of course only reminds her of the fact that she's wearing one of Oliver's old shirts over a pair of her shorts. _

_"With the League of Assassins, it seems." _

_"Well, Mr. Wayne, as much as I love to talk about my training, why don't you come back during the day. You know? When the sun's out. It should be in about six hours. And next time try knocking on the front door and you won't end of on your back." She closes her eyes as she realizes the double meaning of her words. "That's...not what I meant. I meant that I wouldn't attack you because I would know you were here because you'd knock on the door...And I swear these rants get worse the less sleep I get." _

_She stifles a yawn. "You can see yourself out." She turns away, but another dark shadow comes flying through her window, landing with a bow out, arrow aimed at Batman's chest. _

_"If you shoot that thing in my apartment, then so help me, I will ruin you with a few clicks of my mouse. _Both_ of you. Green Arrow, this is Batman. Batman, Green Arrow. Now both of you GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT!" _

_She groans as they ignore her, glaring daggers at each other. _

_"What are you doing here?" Green Arrow asks, voice modulator in place. _

_"Giving you some much needed back-up." _

_"What are you doing in _Felicity's apartment_?" _

_"Just visiting an old friend." _

_Felicity shakes her head, staring at the ceiling praying for help. At least no punches have been thrown. "Well, I have to work in the morning, so if you could lock up when you leave, that would be nice." She turns and walks to her bedroom, closing the door behind her as they continue to exchange words. She's going to have words with Diggle about this in the morning... _

Felicity sighs. "Bruce Wayne, this is Oliver Queen. Oliver, Bruce. You can commence with the measuring contest now. I'm going to go get another drink to deal with all this."

"Bruce."

"Oliver...I see you've come crawling back from the Russian wilderness."

Laurel hands her back her glass, now filled again. "Thank you."

"Yeah. I get the feeling you're going to want it."

Felicity doesn't bother turning around. There's no doubt in her mind that they're staring each other down. She finishes the glass right after sliding the lasagna into the oven, finally turning back around to Oliver and Bruce barely exchanging pleasantries in the doorway.

She fills her goblet with water and leans back against the counter. She doesn't know what to do about the two men because they're both too stubborn and pig-headed to listen to her. And she's going to beat Roy next time they spar because he definitely said something. She doesn't know what but he had to have said something.

Laurel leans closer. "Maybe we should make some popcorn for this."

"I'm torn between walking away or beating this out of them, but if you want to make popcorn, go right ahead." She gestures to the microwave. Laurel's still getting used to making herself at home in Felicity's apartment. Roy acts like he lives her all the time. She's had to get used to having extra snacks on hand at all times. Between Roy and Barry, her shelves are cleaned out every week or so.

"Auntie Lissy! Auntie Lissy!" Maddie barrels past the two glaring heroes to jump at Felicity.

She sweeps the girl up into her arms. "Hey, sweetie! How's my favorite niece doing?"

"I'm your _only_ niece, Aunt Lissy." She giggles.

"Really? Are you sure about that?" Maddie nods in answer. Felicity sighs. "Well, then, I guess that's good news because I have something special for dessert for my favorite niece and nephew."

"Really?!" Maddie bounces in her arms and Felicity has to lower her to the floor so she won't drop her.

"Really really."

"I swear you all spoil my kids," Lyla groans, dropping a duffel bag on the floor next to the door as she holds Johnny in her arms. She glances behind her. "What's with the stare down?"

Felicity rolls her eyes. "Don't ask." She glances back at the boys. "Now, if you two are done, why don't we move this thing into the living room instead of blocking my hallway? Okay?"

She can still feel the tension radiating off the two men as she leads the way into the room, plopping down on the couch, allowing Maddie to climb into her lap. Bruce dons his winning smile as he crouches in front of Felicity.

"Hi, young lady, I'm Bruce. I'm a friend of your Aunt Lissy's and you must be the Maddie I've heard so much about." He winks and Felicity rolls her eyes, leaning back into her couch. She contemplates going back for her wine, but she needs to be sober to deal with these antics if she's being completely honest.

She glances shyly up at Felicity who nods with a somewhat forced smile.

"She's told me you're a huge fan of the Justice League of America, but that you're missing a couple action figures." Felicity tenses behind her. Bruce's second wink does nothing to alleviate her fears as he reaches behind him and pulls out a box covered in birthday cake wrapping paper. "And I heard your birthday was coming up. So I got you a gift."

In typical kid fashion, Maddie grabs the box with a hurried thank you and races off to show Lyla in the other room. Bruce smirks as he meets her eyes, but Felicity shakes her head, not liking any of his nonsense.

"What are you doing, Bruce?" She asks quietly, leaning forward.

"I'm being polite. I intruded on your family dinner night, so I brought presents."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"So how do you two know each other?" Oliver asks, finally stepping into the conversation.

Bruce straightens to face him, arms crossed once again. "We met on one of her business trips to Gotham and we stayed in touch."

"Really? A business trip?"

Felicity sighs, pushing herself up from the couch. "Are we really going to keep doing this?" Oliver glances at her warily, but Bruce remains stoic as ever. She rolls her eyes. Next time she's just going to lock them in the Foundry and they can only come out once they've beat each other into a pulp. She'll make a rule about no punches to the face though. No need to ruin those pretty looks in a fight.

"Okay, this has got to stop!" She steps between them, pushing them back by their chests. She's not going to get distracted by the muscles under both her hands. "No more stare downs. This is going to be a nice, polite family dinner. There will be no fighting or arguing, no excessive displays of testosterone, and _absolutely_ no territorial bull shit or I will be kicking you out of my apartment."

Bruce softens his stance as Maddie comes racing back in, waving her box around. "Look! Look, Aunt Lissy! It's an old Green Arrow!"

Her breath catches in her throat as she recognizes Digg's action figure in a pristine box. Her eyes meet Lyla's tearful ones. She blinks back a couple tears, her voice breaking as she responds. "That's amazing, Maddie. Did you thank Bruce for the gift?"

"Thank you, Bruce!" She wraps a hug around his legs and then plops back down on the couch. "Aunt Lissy, can we watch the cartoons?"

"Sure, honey. Why don't you boys sit down and keep Maddie company?" She smirks politely as she pulls up the Justice League cartoons Maddie is in love with. She swears the girl has seen each episode ten times, but she still insists on watching it whenever she's over.

Oliver frowns at the title sequence. She notices his frown deepening as Batman appears on screen. Yup, she is going to have to kill Roy and bury his body somewhere no one will ever find it. She notices Bruce's smug reaction. She's out of here.

"Who would have thought Bruce Wayne could be a softie?" Lyla whispers, dabbing at her eyes. Behind her, Laurel plays with Johnny, cooing as he tugs on her wig. "I thought he was more like his alter ego: dark and broody."

"Aren't they all?" Felicity mutters...

_"Oh, look. You're still here." Felicity groans, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Digg hands her a cup of coffee, now dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Bruce is dressed similarly, but clearly in Oliver's extra clothes from her guest room. It gives her a jolt in her chest at the thought, but she stuffs it down. _

_She lowers herself slowly onto the couch, sipping her steaming cup of nectar from the Gods. Digg made it just the way she likes it. It's a custom they established a year ago: if he showed up before she went to work, he made her coffee. Bruce opens his mouth, but she catches Digg shaking his head from his perch on her armchair. Smart man. She doesn't have serious conversation before she's finished her first cup of coffee, especially with the late nights she has in the lair. _

_She finishes the cup and Digg takes it to get her a refill. Her eyes finally settle on Bruce Wayne. By his stiffness, she guesses he's not used to dressing down like this. It's surprising he showed up at her place. She knows Wayne Enterprises has a sit down meeting with QC this morning, but she also knew Ray wasn't expecting Bruce Wayne to be at the meeting today. She certainly wasn't expecting to see him last night. _

_"So, John, what's up?" Felicity raises her eyes to Digg's. "Do you need my help with something?" _

_"I was just following the Bat." _

_She can feel the start of a headache behind her eyes, so she rubs her temples. "Does Lyla know where you are?" _

_He nods. "Who do you think sent me here?" _

_"And you, Bruce? Care to explain why you snuck into my apartment in the wee hours of the morning?" _

_He has the decency to look chastised, but relaxes back into the chair. "I wanted to have a talk with you and your...friends." He nods to Digg. "You've got interesting connections, Miss Smoak." _

_Digg snorts. "Well, you've certainly got a type." _

_She shoots him a glare, but the smirk doesn't slip off his face. "What do you want, Bruce?" _

_"I need some computer help." _

_"I thought you had your own computer geek. Peppy, little redhead who seemed really happy to see me." She only has another hour before she needs to be at work. She showered last night so all she really needs to do is get dressed, especially since she gets the feeling she's going to be dragged into the whole Wayne Enterprises meeting today. _

_"She's the one who suggested I ask you, actually." And he doesn't seem too happy about that. A girl would be offended if she wasn't familiar with broody billionaires. "There were a lot of words and tech phrases involved." _

_"Well, did you bring whatever it was with you?" She stares at him over her coffee unimpressed by his near-permanent scowl. "Because I can't exactly drop everything to work on it for you. It's a big day at work, in case you haven't realized. I'm not exactly going to be in the Wayne Enterprises meeting, but I get the feeling Ray's going to drag me in anyway. He's a persistent little bugger. And for future reference, sending me an email or text or something beforehand is a much better way to get in touch. Then you won't end on the floor of my apartment." She winces. "And on that note, I'm going to get ready for work. Give whatever you have to Diggle." _

_"Actually...it's in Gotham." Digg answers for Bruce. She turns to glare at the two men. Apparently they didn't get much sleep and had a nice long chat instead. _

_"So what do you expect me to do?" _

_Of course, she has a pretty good idea based on their reactions. She crosses her arms, waiting for them to say it. Digg glances sideways, reluctant to actually say it. _

_"We need you to come to Gotham." _

_"So you expect me to drop everything and just go with you to Gotham?" _

_Bruce smirks. "Then it's a good thing I have a private jet and an excuse." _

_"If you think you can use me to play up your playboy image, you've really got the wrong girl." _

_Digg smirks and Bruce nods. _

_"Your friend in green has already informed me." He stands, checking his phone. "But I have to go if I want to be fashionably late to my meeting at Queen Consolidated." _

_"Why do I get the feeling that I'm suddenly going to find myself on a business trip to Gotham today?" _

_Bruce winked back at her from the door. "As smart as I was told." _

_She scowls. "No." _

_"No?" _

_"If you want my help in Gotham, you could at least have the decency to ask me in person." She crosses her arms, walking down the hallway until she stops in front of him. "If not, you're not going to like the answer."_

_"If you don't do this, people will die." _

_"That still doesn't sound like a please." _

_He frowns. "You help people. That's what you do. If I need to drag you back to Gotham with me, I will." _

_"Do you _ever_ just ask a polite question or do you just expect people to do exactly what you say?" He's exactly like Oliver when she first joined the mission: going all GRRRR on people to get what he wants. "I'm not one of the bad guys you hang off a roof to get them to give you information. If you make a little conversation, come by at a decent hour, and ask nicely, a girl's more likely to be helpful." _

_She frowns, arms crossed once again over her pajamas as she faces down the scariest mask she's ever met. It's easier than she thought it would be because he reminds her so much of Oliver. He's gruffer and a she doesn't know him well enough to get a good read on him, but it's easy enough for her to pretend. _

_"Felicity, will you please return with me to Gotham to help break into a secure building and hack into their computer system?" Bruce manages a grimace as if the words are physically painful. _

_"Yes. I would say that wasn't so hard, but apparently it was for you...and I did not mean that in a sexual way...at all. You should probably go now before I say something worse." _

_He nods to her and down the hallway to Digg before disappearing. She turns back to Digg's full-blown smile. "You should get a job wrangling broody billionaires. You have a talent." _

_"I did and if you remember, he forced me into that one and I don't want to repeat that." She shakes her head, walking back towards her bedroom. "I guess it's about time I packed. Apparently, I'm heading to Gotham tonight..." _

"I just flew in from Gotham for a business trip and decided to drop by. We've been doing great business with Queen Consolidated. I'm surprised Felicity hasn't told you more. She and Lucius are surprisingly close when it comes to new projects. She even helped us design a new satellite."

Felicity cringes at the reference to Watchtower-in-the-Sky as she likes to call it. Why had she thought that Bruce's arrival wouldn't be such a big deal? Then again, it's not like she could have stopped him anyway. She almost wishes there was a bad guy out there she could take down just to get away from this insanity, the tension she feels slowly tearing her apart.

...

In the TV show, Batman and the Green Arrow have a thing. He tries not to notice it, not to let it bother him, but it does. He's not as oblivious as people think he is either. He wasn't in the room with Bruce for more than a few minutes before he recognized the tension between them. It wasn't just that he was close with Felicity, or at least he was trying to convince himself it was something more. He was gone for five years, after all. Had she moved on with another billionaire?

No. He doesn't think it's that because she's annoyed with him, but he seems unfazed with her glares. But Bruce is definitely pushing buttons on purpose. He's also got the stance of a warrior. Oliver might be jumping to conclusions, but there's something bothering him the back of his mind.

"It must be hard travelling from Gotham." Oliver mentions with a polite smile. "It's got to be difficult to leave others to do your work for you. That's a lot of trust."

He watches as the amusement clears from Bruce's eyes as he absorbs the comment. "Oh, I don't actually do that much in the company. They can get by without me."

"But I'm sure all of Gotham will miss hearing about your nightly activities." He takes an innocent sip of beer, watching as Bruce's jaw clenches. Laurel pauses in bouncing Johnny but continues a second later. Lyla raises her eyebrows, but Felicity bites back a smirk, amusement dancing in her eyes. It's all he needs to know he's right about his hunch.

"Not at all. I have partners who can take care of everything for me."

"Good partners are hard to come by." He winks at Felicity and she unleashes her smile on him, nodding in agreement.

"Well, your mind is sharper than I thought it would be," Bruce replies dryly.

"So, what? This was all a test to see if I really am Oliver Queen?" He gets it. He really does. He's not happy about it, but he understands. If this happened to him, he wouldn't leave the "time traveler" wouldn't be left alone with anyone he cared about for a minute.

"I'm still not convinced."

"And I said I'd let you question him, Bruce, but I think he passed your test." Felicity pats him on the shoulder. "I told you so."

He finds himself smiling into his drink and exchanging looks with Felicity again, just like before he went to get Tockman and woke up in the future. He's giddy because there's still something there. Five years might have passed for her, but there's still attraction there. She still wants him and he feels like a hormonal teenager all over again. Suddenly, Wayne doesn't seem like as much of a problem.

Suddenly the future doesn't seem as problematic.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I am soooooo sorry about the late update. The stressful life of a college student prevented me from updating when I said I would. And unfortunately the semester isn't over so I can't promise weekly updates for the next month and a half. But rest assured that I have not abandoned this story. I have the next chapter planned and will hopefully have the rest of the story planned so I can write it all over winter break and update regularly later. _

_And to blueskittlez: I have every intention of finishing this story. I just got attacked by life. We had visitors in my apartment one weekend so I couldn't write when I normally did and then I had the week from hell, during which I proceeded to eat my feelings in ice cream and cookie dough because it was that bad and my muse deserted me. I hope you like this update. Realistically, I should definitely be able to update every other week *knock on wood*. _

_Anyways, I hope you ALL like the chapter. Comment to let me know what you think! I love hearing from everyone! ENJOY!_

**Chapter 6**

"After all the stories, I thought you would be better." Bruce smirks at Oliver as he ducks the punch coming at his face.

Oliver snorts as he sets back up, still circling on the mats. He honestly hadn't expected Bruce to stick around for this long. It's been almost a week of circling each other, mostly with Felicity between them. Oliver's been staying in her apartment still, but he continues to feel like he's missing something huge, no matter how often he goes through the past news footage. He feels like he's read everything possible, read until his restlessness drives him back to this Foundry basement and the exercise equipment there.

Felicity, Laurel, and Roy all have jobs and have been busy, so he's been left mostly on his own, which is as infuriating as much as it is freeing. Surprisingly, Bruce has been the one keeping him company more than any of the others. He's officially here on business, but she can tell he's really there to check in on him. Bruce is testing him. He hasn't gotten any straight answers from Bruce about how he ended up dressing as a bat and fighting crime. No straight answers, but from their sparring answers, he has some League of Assassins training.

"What stories have you heard?" Oliver asks, ducking a punch again as they get back into the fighting rhythm, blows blocked more often than they do damage. He at least can see the fight is taking just as much a toll on Bruce as it is on him. Both men are breathing heavily, sweat dripping down their uncovered chests.

"You're the man behind the legend. John, Felicity, Roy, Laurel, Sara...they all spoke highly of you, even while calling you a stubborn ass."

Oliver chuckles, not doubting it in the slightest. The chuckle turns into a grunt as Bruce pushes him back a step. This is the most challenging fight since Slade, as much as it pains him to admit it. His opponent is good at what he does. Oliver can't even claim to be better... they keep alternating winners and losers. "I've heard similar things about you."

Bruce scowls. That seems to be his default reaction to everything after he sheds his playboy persona. Oliver's been watching him for the past few days. He recognizes so much of himself, the warrior, in the man he fights, but this man he fights is more sure of his cause. He has his rules and ideals, he thinks he is always right.

His muscles ache from the constant activity of the past few days. Bruce has far more experience in hand to hand combat than Diggle did the last time they fought. Of course, they've had rules while fighting: no killing hits, no head shots, not breaking bones. It hasn't stopped the bruises accumulating on his arms from blocking strikes or the pain in his side from a particularly bad hit to his ribs from two days ago.

"So how much longer are you planning on staying here? Don't you have a city to get back to?"

Bruce narrows his eyes, suspicion glinting in the depths of his eyes. "Why, Queen? You waiting for me to disappear?"

"Just wondering what you're still doing here." He's more than proved himself to Bruce. He's answered every question, passed every test, beaten every challenge, but still Bruce insisted on sticking around. He was always there, lurking in the shadows and finding excuses to stick around Felicity or work with Oliver. Felicity just ignored him, letting him do what he wanted.

If it had been up to Oliver, he would have convinced Bruce to leave by now. They were going on a week of him being here, glaring suspiciously at Oliver without any viable reason. He's thankful for someone to spar, but this is getting tedious.

"I'm checking to make sure my friends are safe."

Oliver scowls, not breaking his rhythmic movements. "Your friends are mine. I wouldn't go anything to hurt them."

"For five years, you were gone. Intentional or not, you hurt them, and if you aren't who you claim to be, it would kill them. And they have suffered enough."

Oliver's frown settles deeper into his face. "Haven't I made it clear, I will do everything in my power to help them out?" He finally manages to land a solid punch in Bruce's gut and he doubles over, allowing Oliver to press his advantage for a little while longer.

Bruce finally lashes back, pushing Oliver back a couple steps. "Do you even know what happened when you left?"

"Yes." His teeth grit around the words, anger rising up. "I talked to Felicity-"

"You talked to her? Yes, because she'd confess all her problems over the years to you." Bruce sneers, a well-placed kick, nearly taking out Oliver's already weak knee.

He winces at the near-impact and the truth behind Bruce's words. He knows his girl won't complain about her own life, even if something terrible is going on with her. Oliver likes to think he can spot when something's wrong. For a fact, he knows things are going mostly well now. He can see it in her eyes, in her smile, but that says nothing about what she's been through in the last five years. He can't imagine it was easy for her to lose him all that time ago, hours before they were supposed to go on a date.

"Fine. Why don't you tell me what happened then, if you want to tell me so badly?" He wants to know as much as he can about the time he missed. He _has_ to know it all if he wants to be helpful in the now. It's just like when he returned from the island except this time he doesn't have his own memories of the time that passed. He really won't be able to stand this if it becomes the norm.

"You want me to tell you? Really? Are you sure you want to hear this, Queen?"

Oliver ducks, done with Bruce's shit. He already knows the man's not one to pull his punches, and frankly, that's something he respects. Laurel, Roy, and Felicity, they don't necessarily dumb things down, but they think about his feelings before speaking and he really just wants people to rip off the proverbial band-aid. It comes out in a low growl: "Tell me."

Bruce steps back, out of a fighting stance, but still loose and ready to move when necessary. "I first met Felicity about nine months after your disappearance. She and the rest of your team was working a job in Gotham. She was dressed in all black, wearing a mask as she hacked into a computer and shut down a huge threat to anyone with a computer. She was going by Watchtower then, a moniker my sidekick admired for her computer prowess. She disabled the threat with us breathing down her neck and then swung out the window after grabbing a string shot from an arrow."

He sighs. "There was a tech conference being hosted by Wayne Industries, so we figured that the best place to find our masked woman was at the gala. Oracle, my former-sidekick, narrowed it down to two possibilities. She figured out who I was in five minutes, but there was a constant sadness in her eyes throughout the whole conversation. I get now that it was because I reminded her of you, with you and your alter ego. At the time, I was shocked that she saw through my mask. I'm still not convinced she doesn't have some sort of psychic abilities."

"Sounds like Felicity," Oliver concedes, smiling sadly to himself. "I'm pretty sure she knew my identity before I told her, at least subconsciously."

Bruce nods in agreement. "She's probably the smartest person I've ever met, and that's saying something."

Oliver snorts derisively. "There's more to your story, Wayne."

He nods. "The second time, I came here to get her because I needed her brand of computer help. Oracle wasn't going to be able to hack it, quite literally. She didn't really appreciate me entering her apartment through the window in the middle of the night. She had me pinned in seconds, mostly because I wasn't expecting her to fight back, but she had been trained." He trails off, lost in the memory. "It was one of the first times I noticed that something was missing. She was missing something. We had checked on her, she wasn't involved with anyone, but she wore a man's shirt to sleep, and John was especially protective of her, which was interesting to see since she could obviously take care of herself." His eyes narrow on Oliver. "John made a comment about her having a type, which of course made sense later, once I was in the loop.

"But I don't think you get it, Queen. It wasn't a thing she did that showed she was miserable. She seemed perfectly happy and capable at every turn. She did her job phenomenally. It was after a joint operation where I nearly died and she was the one patching me up that I learned more of the truth. She was stitching a hole in my chest, holding back tears and scolding me. She ran out after telling me she couldn't lose another hero. Diggle told me after she left about you disappearing and what it did to her. I'll never forget how he told me he knew it was still weighing on her: her nail polish."

Oliver's head jerks up at that thought, thinking back to the future Felicity and recalling her bright green nails. He fondly recalls the variety of colors that seemed to change on a nearly daily basis. He has no idea how she had time to do them every day, but occasionally he would come back to the lair and it would smell of acetone.

"I never would have noticed because I didn't know her before, but according to John and Barry, she used to rotate between bright colors on a daily basis, but all I'd seen was a subdued pink. John said that was how he could tell she was still mourning despite her happy demeanor."

Oliver would be fighting back a smirk at the strong, silent Batman checking a woman's nail polish, if he didn't know the truth behind the words. He had noticed it over the last couple of days: Felicity's wardrobe didn't have quite the same vibrancy it had five years ago, but he had chalked it up to her growing older. It hadn't occurred to him that it was in response to her feelings.

He also knows she hadn't given up on him. He couldn't imagine it was easy, but he could see her in his mind's eye struggling to produce a smile for the sake of her team. She always smiled and insisted on fun, non-vigilante related team activities. One was a particularly memorable team bowling event where she ended up cursing the lanes and nearly hacking their system because she was sure Roy was cheating somehow. It had been shortly after the Slade incident and he had witnessed the anxiety that crossed her face whenever she thought no one was looking. That was when he had started checking in on her every night. Neither of them had said anything about it at the time, but it had relieved some of both of their tension. He'd even crashed on her couch a couple of time, surprisingly getting some of his best sleep since before the island.

"You got close with John and Felicity." It's already clear he and Felicity are good friends, if not more, but John tended to be tight-lipped and almost as protective of Felicity as he was. He wouldn't have given that information to just anyone.

"Felicity was the one who brought together the Justice League of America. She convinced John, Barry, Sara, and I to assist Superman in Metropolis after his first showdown with Lex Luthor's robots. She basically manhandled us into an actual working team so we could stop him, and that was our first experience as a team. Barry's friend Cisco gave us the name and we slowly added members." Bruce settles back into a fighting stance and they resume their movement as he continues the story.

"The creation of the Justice League breathed new life into her and I finally understood a lot of what John had been trying to tell me about the nail polish. Whenever I was in town, I would train with Team Arrow and I learned they were actually a pretty happy bunch. Then John passed and suddenly everyone was dressed black. Dick came here to help with the patrols and I know they called in Laurel. Felicity disappeared, leaving the Watchtower program to monitor everything and Canary took over as team leader. She showed up on my doorstep two months later, dressed in all black from head to toe with cuts and bruises marring her face. There wasn't a splash of color on her."

Shocked, Oliver missed Bruce's uppercut and was forced to fall back a couple of steps to regain the rhythm of the fight. Bruce nods grimly, understanding the unfamiliar idea.

"She told me then she was going to take up the hood. I trained with her for a month and I learned she had been working with Nyssa and the League. Her whole stay she stayed in the same morose colors, even my ward was more somber in her presence and Dick was usually the one to joke with her all the time. The night she decided she was ready to head back, she sat in the Batcave and determinedly painted her nails green. We lost Sara six months later to an unknown archer, we suspect was under the orders of Ras Al Ghul. Laurel took over as Canary soon after. She's been Green Arrow for three years. She's faced as many struggles as the rest of us, but she still manages to smile and joke though the pain. It's not something you or I could do. She's been hurting on the inside for years from a wound that keeps bleeding and she does it with a smile on her face and hope in her heart."

"She's the strongest person I know," Oliver fills in, mind flashing to her at Slade's mercy with a sword pressed against her neck and determination in her eyes. Even in her debilitating fear, she kept moving with their plan.

Bruce pauses in his strikes, nodding in acknowledgement. "At least you recognize that, Queen."

Oliver scowls at the insinuation that he doesn't appreciate Felicity. He hates that he hasn't been there for her over the past five years and that she had to rely on others and turn herself into a weapon, but he's proud of her because he always knew she had strength, until the Slade incident, he just hadn't realized just how much.

...

Felicity chucked her latest paper coffee cup into the garbage bin to join the other three cups from this morning. She's adjusted to the pain in her ribs from one of the three muggers who got in a lucky shot last night during her patrol. Between patrols and dealing with Oliver and Bruce, she hasn't been getting the best sleep. After all these years, she used to operating on minimal hours of sleep, but she doesn't usually have to deal with two testosterone-driven, overprotective males. Truth be told, going on patrol was a welcome relief.

"Miss Smoak, Mr. Palmer is here to speak with you," Collin, her assistant calls over the intercom.

"Thanks, Collin. Send him in." She spins around in her chair, grabbing the most recent printouts from her personal printer and sliding them into a blue folder. She rolls back to stop in front of her two computer screens, closing down the latest Applied Sciences designs for the pressurized living pods they're working on for deep ocean or space travel.

Ray saunters through the doors, hands deep in his pockets. "So? How're the designs going? I wasn't expecting you to call me down here for another couple days with everything going on."

She shoots him a glare, finally rising from her chair. "I like to keep busy. It keeps my mind off Oliver and Bruce with their whole macho man thing. Here are the new specs. I've already sent them down to Mark to be constructed. He seems excited for this project. I'm fairly certain he's already started working on it. He's working on the shell first, so if you have anything you want to add, you can do that. I'm going to start working on the actual programming next."

Her computer dings, drawing both their attention. She heads back around, using the touch screen to navigate the open windows as the screens adjust to her standing height. Because of programing and such, she doesn't run the full Watchtower setup in her QC office, but her room does have a good amount of toys, like the automatic dimmer on the windows activating now so she can look at the screens without a glare.

Her hand pauses, hovering over the original blueprints for William Tockman's time travel device as she notices the Luthor Corps logo in the corner...

_"I can't believe you brought me here as your arm candy," She growls under her breath to Bruce as they circle the Modern Invention Expo Gala hosted by Luthor Corps. She knows he can hear her through the comms in their ears along with his red-headed sidekick and another one she hadn't met last time. _

_"How else was I supposed to get you in?" Bruce asks, playboy smile firmly in place. "Besides, you were Oliver Queen's assistant: you've been to things like this before. At least now, your job is actually on your intelligence level." _

_Felicity rolls her eyes. Most times Oliver made her come to these things it was because he needed her to do basically the same thing she was doing tonight, not that Bruce needed to know that. He had tried to get an answer out of her on the plane ride as to why she had subjected herself to a year of a tedious job mostly left to people with far fewer qualifications than her. Of course, she's used to the questions from people who actually know what she can do, but she never gives any answer other than Oliver is her friend, although everyone seems to assume that means they were sleeping together. _

_"We could have just snuck in under the cover of night." _

_"But this is easier. The guards can be distracted and we can blend in with the crowds after this is over. Suspicious will not rest on us if we are found out." _

_"Yeah, well, it's not like it makes much of a difference to you, but I'd like to see you try to run or do anything quickly in a dress and heels." She prides herself on being able to work comfortably in heels, but the red shoes on her feet are about half an inch taller than she's used to and they're starting to pinch her toes. Plus her black dress with its open back and cutouts at her sides sticks to her body until it flares out slightly at her hips. She will most definitely not be doing anything resembling running tonight. _

_"I wouldn't look half as good," Bruce responds with an uptick of his lips. _

_Felicity rolls her eyes, snagging a glass of wine from a passing waiter. "Yeah, I'm sure." _

_Over the comms she hears responding chuckles from the teenagers watching their backs, one from a nearby rooftop and the other from a rather impressive computer setup in a nearby hideout. Felicity allows herself a brief image of the imposing man next to her wearing her dress and heels. _

_"At the very least, you would have a new appreciation for my sacrifice tonight. I mean, these shoes are pinching my toes horribly. I can't wait to get back to my hotel room and pull them off. I might even go down to their spa and get a massage. That actually sound better the more I think about it. My muscles are always tight after flying. I need something to relax anyway. I'm tenser than I've ever been in my life. Sara might be right and I just need to get lai...nevermind." She turns bright red as she realizes she was about to tell Bruce Wayne she needed to get laid. That might be her worst flub yet. She knew she should have taken a nap before coming to this thing. _

_She hears a choking sound over the comms and Bruce's hand is now digging slightly into her side. _

_"Forget I said anything," she mumbles into her glass of wine, finding it increasingly interesting. _

_"Bruce!" _

_The man holding Felicity to his side gets even more tense if that's even possible, but his summons his charming smile as he manages to turn them around to the source of the booming, jovial voice. She immediately recognizes the bald man from the multitude of magazine covers he's graced. There's something about him that doesn't sit well with her despite his bright smile. She can't put her finger on it, but she considers herself a good judge of character and something about him screams 'beware'. _

_"Lex! It's great to see you. You've really outdone yourself tonight." _

_Felicity finds herself fascinated by the level of civility in Bruce. If his hand wasn't firmly anchored on her hip, she might have thought he actually liked Lex Luthor. _

_"Thank you! It really is something, isn't it? And who is this lovely vision you've got on your arm?" _

_She musters a smile, holding her hand out. "Felicity Smoak." _

_Lex takes her hand and lifts it to his lips to kiss her knuckles, pausing as he lowers his hand, confusion coloring his eyes. "Smoak? As in the Head of Applied Sciences at Queen Consolidated?" _

_She nods, pulling her hand back as he releases it and taking another sip of her wine. "Yup. We have a contract with Wayne Industries which had me coming to Gotham and Mr. Wayne insisted on taking me to your expo. I have to say the inventions are quite something." She had been especially interested in the hologram prototype, although the glitches indicated it needed much more work. _

_"Really? Interesting. How are things over at Queen Consolidated? I mean, after the multiple changes in leadership, it must be difficult." _

_"I'm sure you know; we're recovering just fine." She forces a smile. Since Ray Palmer took over, the company was blooming. Sure, to the public, the difference wasn't that marked, but knowing the long line of products lines up to be released, Felicity isn't worried. This display of inventive prowess from Luthor Corps only convinced her that QC was going to do well when their products were released to the general public. _

_"So, what's your plan, Bruce? Are you trying to steal her away from Queen Consolidated?" _

_He chuckles. "If I thought I could entice her away, I would, but she's made it clear she's only interested in me for my company's computer processors." _

_Lex raises an eyebrow, but Felicity just nods. "It's true. That's why I'm here. He promised me the latest model before it even hits the market." _

_Their host throws his head back with a loud laugh, drawing stares. "Careful, Bruce, someone might hijack your date." With that final note, Lex pats him on the back and makes his way through the crowd to someone else. _

_"I don't like him." Felicity scowls at his retreating back, Bruce's hand finally relaxing on her hip. _

_"Let's go." His Bat voice has returned and Felicity follows him into the back hallways, through the dark corridors to the room with the mainframe. She cracks her knuckles before buckling down to pull the secrets from the machines surrounding her. All in all, it's not anything she hasn't done before for Oliver. _

_"You do realize this can be done remotely, right? I mean, I have a handy USB you could just plug into the computer and someone outside could work their computer magic. We used it almost two years ago on the Dollmaker case. He was a murderer selecting girls based on their choice of skin cream. That wasn't so great because I ended up being bait for a murderer, but O-the Arrow saved me so I guess all's well that ends well, right? Okay. I got it!" She pulls the memory stick from the computer and turns to face a stone-faced Bruce Wayne._

_She sighs. "You could, I don't know...smile." She demonstrates for him. "See? Smile. It's actually really easy. Remind me to give you the remote hack program. It could really come in handy with your hacker junior. Now, are you ready to go?" _

_"You've done this sort of thing before?" _

_Felicity glanced back at him as she started down the hallway, shrugging and ticking places off on her fingers. "Well, there was the underground casino and there was no way I was running in that outfit either, but the Arrow rescued me. Then there was the Merlyn Job, which was obviously prior to the Undertaking. I almost got nabbed by security then, but John rescued me from security. Oh, and then the Dollmaker thing, but like I said, I didn't actually get kidnapped. And really that stuff was over a year ago. I mean, sure I was kidnapped a couple times along the way, but the second time it was intentional." _

_"You got intentionally kidnapped?" The kid's voice in her ear was confused. It was Robin, if she remembered correctly, or rather Dick Grayson, Bruce's ward. _

_"Yeah. Remember that whole thing in Starling with Deathstroke? And the city being invaded?" _

_"You were part of that?" _

_Felicity smirks. She's got the kids on the comms hooked on the story even if each word is making Bruce look more and more like a sour puss. "It's sort of a long story, but Deathstroke kidnapped me to get to the Arrow, but we planned it. I stabbed him in the neck with a serum that made him a regular human and the Arrow took him out." _

_"Wow!" _

_"So cool!" _

_"He came to Gotham a couple years ago. He was super scary. We barely managed to chase him out of town and he definitely broke more than just a couple bones." Batgirl explains over the comms, but Felicity tunes the girl out as her eyes lift to Bruce's. _

_Bruce's dark scowl throws her for a loop. "You shouldn't have taken on Deathstroke alone. Your team was reckless." _

_"But that was the plan," Felicity explains with an eye roll as they rejoin the rest of the party. The USB with their newly gathered information rests in Bruce's suit pocket because God knows her dress has no room to hide anything. "Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, had a personal vendetta against the Arrow and the only way to get inside his defenses enough to deactivate his powers with the serum was to get him to underestimate someone, which could only be me. He had seen everyone else fight and he knew I had no military training unlike the rest of our team, plus...yeah. It just made sense." _

_Bruce stops in the middle of the hall, causing her to come up short. Through gritted teeth, he mutters, "He put you in that situation without any training?" _

_Felicity rolls her eyes and pulls him along, further into the room. "We didn't have any choice. Believe me, if he could have done it another way, he would have. It nearly killed him to do it." _

_She knows the truth of her words. She had seen it in Oliver's eyes that night. As soon as he had said those three words that rocked her world, she had known he meant it. He couldn't lie to her and they both knew it. She had also seen his desire to take her with him, to protect her, but she had always told him it was her choice and she always chose to stay. _

_"He should have kept you away from that crazy man. He should not have risked your life." _

_She stops, turning to face the angry billionaire. She looks him square in the eyes. "If the only way to save a city was to risk the woman you loved, would you do it?" _

_Silence follows her question and it tears burn her eyes after asking it. She's never voiced it like that before and it brings the memories back vividly, so she turns away and keeps walking, slowing to take in the various inventions, secure in the knowledge that Bruce will eventually catch up. _

_When he finally does, his hand comes to rest on the small of her back, lightly brushing her bare skin and sending a shiver up her spine. _

_"You weren't talking about John," he whispers, leaning towards her. _

_She doesn't move, but they both know it's not a question and she's not going to volunteer any more information on the subject. She instead focuses on the invention before her. There's something about it that nudges the edge of her conscious, something familiar that she can't put her finger on, but it seems important. _

_"And for the record," Bruce continues, "he should have found another way." _

_Felicity takes a deep breath to hold in the sob threatening to escape. "He did." _

"Is that the Tockman's time travel device?" Ray asks, snapping Felicity out of her memories.

She focuses on the blueprints again. It's the same one from that Expo four years ago, but the inventor's name is not one she recognizes and the device seen shows no indication of being able to manipulate time. However, it gives her a new angle to research. She doesn't know how she missed it years ago.

"This isn't his device, exactly," she answers as she drops back into her seat and starts tapping away on the keyboard. "It's purpose, apparently is to project onto a person what they will look like as they age, to project certain clothes and styles on someone, etc. That said, the major difference just from a quick glance is the programing, but this inventor..."

She takes off typing, forgetting about Ray who knows enough about her method to back out of the room and leave her to work. His only response is to call back: "When you're done, shoot me a message so at least I know where you are."

Felicity waves vaguely in response, already following the trail, getting more excited with each detail she finds. This is finally it!

...

Bruce tosses another soda tab in the air, watching carefully as Oliver shoots it out of the air to pit in on the far wall already littered with tennis balls and other targets they found. They've been testing aim with various weapons. Bruce can't come close to Oliver on the bow, but he's superior when it comes to the batarangs he likes to throw around. Oliver likes to think he's getting the hang of them, slowly but surely.

"So you really are a master marksman."

Oliver rolls his eyes. He knows exactly why Bruce keeps acting surprised with everything he can do and disappointed when he can't so something: it's a power tactic. "I'm sure they told you that."

"Eventually," Bruce concedes. "They didn't tell me about you immediately. Felicity let it slip accidentally." His eyes are hard again as he meets Oliver's eyes. "I'd already met John and we'd talked for a while so I knew she couldn't be talking about him. She was telling us about Deathstroke and she asked me if I would risk the life of the woman I loved to save a city. She was talking about the Arrow, but not John."

The grip of the bow prevents his hand from curling completely into a fist. He clenches his jaw before bringing his eyes back to Bruce's, sure the man can read everything in his body language. "What did you say?"

"That you should have found another way."

"That was it." And it still sent a pang through his heart to admit it. He'd relived that day a thousand times, trying to find a different solution that didn't involve killing and he never managed it.

"That's what she told me." Bruce sighs, rolling a quarter over his knuckles.

"The year before, during the Undertaking, I tried to get her to leave the Glades, but she refused, saying it was her choice and that if I wasn't leaving, she wasn't leaving." Oliver wants Bruce to understand, because he knows Batman is only worried about her, and if there's anyone he can respect, it's people worried about Felicity's safety. "From that point on, there was never worth arguing about where she would be. She makes her own choices."

"That she does! And you better remember that boys!" Felicity calls from the bottom of the stairs.

Oliver raises his eyebrows, surprised that he didn't hear her coming in, but then she moves and he sees the shimmering of the computer hologram. The image saunters past Oliver to stare down Bruce, a very bizarre experience for Oliver.

"I thought you were done with the questions," she accuses.

Bruce shrugs. "We were just talking."

"I'm sure." She glances back at Oliver.

"We were," he agrees.

The hologram glances back and forth between the two for a moment before sighing. "Well, you better get suited up, Bruce. I tracked down Tockman's base of operations. And let me tell you, it was _not_ easy. But we should strike now, while we have the advantage. I can't promise Tockman won't realize I've hacked him. And he's probably got Vertigo and whoever came through that portal with him."

"I thought Tockman came through the portal."

Oliver already feels antsy with the anticipation of a battle to come, but it didn't escape his attention that Felicity didn't tell him to suit up. Truthfully, he could use a good fight now. He's been missing the constant patrols and the feel of a bow in his hand. He's more than ready to get back in the fight.

"Tockman didn't travel in time. He's been living quietly for the past five years being moved around constantly by Luthor Corps. Well, not Luthor Corps directly, more like various shell companies and subsidiaries. Luthor has been taking care of him and his dying sister."

"So Luthor is involved?"

Oliver lets the two of them talk, slowly absorbing the information. He's read about Lex becoming the head of his father's company and taking it to new heights, but Roy had been filling him in on the dubious things happening in the background and him being Superman's archnemesis, which sounded slightly ridiculous in Oliver's opinion.

"Yes. I'm on my way to the foundry now."

"I'll suit up." Bruce moves from the table, landing lightly on his feet.

Oliver watches him walk away, adjusting his grip on the bow once again as his eyes land on the salmon ladder. Looks like he's going to be working out more aggression down here tonight.

"Oliver..."

Her soft voice catches him off guard and he turns back in surprise.

The hologram walks over to a chest. She gestures him closer and he moves slowly, unsure what she wants. He knows what he wants: to be out there doing something instead of working out his anxiety like this. Except, his signature green is currently being worn by a cute blonde and unavailable to him. If only...

Felicity sighs and his eyes fasten on the hologram again. She stares at him, assessing before finally nodding. Almost reluctantly, she says, "In the chest, you'll find an outfit in all black. Suit up. You're coming with us."

His heart lifts and a smile spreads across his face. The hologram returns the express with a shakes of her head, but even in the computer graphic Oliver can see her happiness before she blinks out of existence with a parting: "See you soon."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed. Your support has been AMAZING! To those guest reviewers, or anyone who has commented asking if I am continuing, the answer is (somewhat obviously) yes. I plan on finishing this story. Lately I've been updating about every two weeks. _

_Also, there's some interesting developments in the middle of this chapter that might be a little bit confusing. I didn't have anyone read through it before posting, so please just let me know what you think in a review. Thanks! I hope you like it! _

_..._

**Chapter 7**

He pulls at the black shirt, yanking it down from the armpits for what feels like the thousandth time since he put it on. The material is supposed to be stretchy, but he hadn't missed Bruce's amused once over before he lead the way to the garage. Around the basement he managed to find a couple escrima to compliment the bow he throws over his back. The arrows are just fine, but they're not specially made by him. Maybe he's being a snob, but he trusts thing he made with his own hands more than manufactured things. He trusts the team. Hell, he even trusts Bruce to have his back, but he's learned that the most reliable weapons are the ones he makes himself, ones where he knows all the possible weaknesses rather than having to painstakingly learn them, at least when it comes to his arrows.

A green motorcycle roars into the space, spinning in a tight circle to turn back towards the entrance. Bruce is already swinging his leg over the body of a black bike, but there are no other vehicles in sight.

"Get on." Felicity's voice is all business as she rests one foot on the ground. "You both have comms?"

Oliver nods, tapping his ear before shoving a helmet over his head and climbing on the back of her bike. His arms slip around her slim waist as she takes off fast enough that he almost leaves his stomach behind. She shifts in front of him at the contact and Oliver forgets the breathe for a second, fighting the urge to pull her back against him, to explore more of her full curves encased in green leather he still considers to be his color. With a strength of discipline he didn't know he had, Oliver drags his mind away from the sudden image of pulling that leather slowly off her in less-than-platonic circumstances. This is not the time for that. _Definitely_ not the time for that.

Felicity navigates the city streets fluidly, seamlessly moving from turn to turn and weaving between cars on busy streets. In his ear, he can hear the automated directions from the Watchtower program. He can tell enough to know they're headed not to the docks, as he assumed, but to a more residential area of the city.

"So, we know Tockman is definitely here. There are no nearby cameras so I can't verify other presences, but we can assume Count Vertigo is there and one other unfriendly. Oliver, I want you to fall back just in case we need your help. We don't need to all rush in." Felicity pulls over to the side, into an alley.

She slides out of his grip and off the bike. Oliver moves forward instinctively to catch the bike, feet landing solidly on the ground. He feels suddenly cold and nervous as she hops on the back of Batman's bike, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow as he peels back onto the road. The seat is still warm from her body heat, but Oliver feels like part of him is missing.

His gloved hands tighten around the handles of the bike, imagining pummeling their enemies. He hasn't been out in the field yet since his time jump and as much fun as fighting Bruce is, he wouldn't mind having a real enemy to punch.

Over the comms, he hears the telltale sounds of fight, and his leg starts bouncing in anticipation. Damn. Is this how Felicity felt sitting in the Lair listening to them on patrol? He doesn't know how she could stand it. He's only a block away from the fight, but it's taking a lot for him not to jump into the fray. He knows Felicity can hold her own in a fight. Hell, he had been hard-pressed to win against her the first time and she had beaten him the last two times. He shouldn't be worried, logically he knows she's more than capable of taking care of herself, but he doesn't like the idea of her actively putting herself in danger. It makes no sense, of course. Felicity's been acting as the Green Arrow for the last three years while he was travelling through time or whatever. She's more than capable of acting as the Green Arrow. He just wishes it was him back in the green kicking ass.

"What are you facing?" He asks, unable to hold back the question since he doesn't have a visual. "How many?"

"We've got ten Vertigo-induced ex-military bodyguards," Felicity practically shouts. "No sighting of the Count or Tockman. Hood, head around the back to cut off their getaway route."

Oliver kicks the bike into gear. "Copy." Not a very apt nickname with his current, borrowed gear which doesn't include a hood, but they didn't give him another handle. It's not like it particularly matters, He zips around the corner, circling around the back of the building to three emerging figures. "Got them. Three figures."

"Don't look Vertigo in the eyes!" Felicity shouts in his ear as he stops the bike and loads an arrow, loving the comforting feel of the bow in his hands, arrow ready to fly.

Oliver freezes as his eyes land on the dark haired man in the group, a man with an arrow already pointed squarely at his chest, a figure he recognizes, but knows can't be there because he watched him die. It's not possible. He couldn't have survived. He must be seeing things.

Then the person he doesn't recognize steps forward and the world around him disappears.

...

"Oliver! Oliver! Shit." Felicity's fist connects with another face and the man falls to the ground with a thud. She spins around for the next opponent, but no one stands between her and the Bat. In sync they both race towards the back of the house. As soon as she has sights on the enemy, she releases a bow straight into her motorcycle tire, wincing as her bike skids across the pavement.

"I'll take Count Vertigo," Batman growls in her earpiece. She nods, eyes focused on the dark figure extracting himself from under the bike he had tried to ride away. Oliver is collapsed in a dazed heap on the ground. She's familiar enough with the side effects of Count Vertigo's powers that she recognizes the trance. Obviously this time he's not hyponotized to fight them: he's lying there, completely immobile.

"I'll take the Dark Archer. I guess we know who came through the latest portal." She hasn't seen him in four years. And then he had just vanished off the map. They didn't have enough people to go after Tockman, not with Oliver lying on the ground under Vertigo's influence. And she very much doubted the other Archer would let her pass.

The Bat begins his attack and Felicity shuts him out as she focuses on her opponent, another arrow already aimed at his chest. "Welcome back. It's been a while."

He throws his hood back with a dark laugh. "Looks like a lot's happened. Didn't expect to see you behind the mask."

"If you put down your weapon now and leave, we can forget this ever happened." She has to give the offer out of loyalty to Oliver. She keeps her arrow trained at his chest.

"You know I won't do that, Felicity."

The soft way he says her name drags her back to the last time they spoke, breaking her heart all over again at her inability to save him then just as much as now. She failed him that night...

_"What do you mean, someone shot Merlyn with an _arrow_?" She demands into the comms, rising from her chair to stand, slamming hands against her desk at work. Night has fallen outside so her assistant is long gone and she's left working on her side projects alone. _

_"I mean, someone shot him through the heart from hundreds of feet away. He's long gone now." Digg reports through the comms. _

_"You didn't see anyone?" _

_"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you to scroll through camera footage, Felicity." _

_"Okay, okay. I'm on it, John." She's back to typing frantically on the computer. A thought occurs to her and her fingers pause on the keyboard. "Is he..." _

_"Malcolm is dead." His voice is closed. She briefly shuts her eyes against the image. They had debated this for hours, whether to capture or kill Malcolm Merlyn. When Oliver had stabbed Malcolm through his own chest, they had thought he was dead, but apparently they had made a mistake. It turns out the decision had been taken out of their hands by another source. _

_"And Thea?" She whispers into the comms, her hands already leading her computer to sift through the cameras in the area. _

_"She's alive." Felicity jumps as the voice comes from the other end of her office, a shadowy corner. _

_"Who...who are you?" _

_"You can warn them, but I'll be gone before they can get here." He steps from the shadows, dressed in the now-familiar uniform of the League of Assassins. _

_"Felicity? What's going on?" Digg demands in her ear. _

_But Felicity can't breathe as the assassin peels back his hood. She recognizes him from pictures and from the one or two times she saw him before the Undertaking, before she heard him die over the comms. "Tommy?" It seems Malcolm wasn't even the only Merlyn to survive dying. _

_He smiles without humor. "I heard you were smart, Felicity." _

_"How?" _

_"It doesn't matter. I came here to stop my father." _

_"You. You're the one who killed him, aren't you?" The horror dawns on her slowly. She knows she doesn't stand a chance of fighting him off if he attacks her. _

_He nods, slowly walking over to the desk in an almost predatory stride. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you unless you get in my way." _

_"What do you want?" She searches for something of the friend Oliver had in the man before her. She's seen pictures of the two of them, but she can't find the charming smile, the laughter hidden in his eyes, the playboy grace. Instead the man before her is all hard lines, set jaw, and cold eyes, assessing her openly with no hint of empathy. _

_"I want you to tell me where I can find Oliver. He and I need to talk." _

_Felicity swallows and it feels loud in the quiet room. "He's somewhere in Russia. I don't know where." _

_"Don't lie to me, Felicity. I don't like when people lie." He casually plucks a knife from a sheath on his thigh and starts flipping it through the air. "You see, the League of Assassins taught me some things when they brought me back to kill my father. My father killed hundreds of innocents so he had to die. Oliver...Oliver is just as bad. He's a liar and a murderer. He must be stopped, so I'll ask you again: Where. Is. Oliver?" _

_"I. Don't. Know." She repeats, fingers digging into the glass surface of her desk as tears threaten to fall down her face, not because he's threatening her but because she really doesn't know and has no way to find Oliver. _

_"Felicity. I'm not an idiot. You're not an idiot. Tell me where he is and I'll let you live." _

_"I told you: I DON'T KNOW!" The hot, angry tears start to fall. _

_Tommy hurls the knife and it skims her cheek before embedding itself in the wall behind her, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake. She doesn't lift her hand to her face to check wipe the blood, just stares back at him in shock. _

_"Next time, I'll do some actual damage." _

_"You seriously think I know where he is?" She asks, ire hardening her words. She stands in a cold fury that pushes aside her fear and leaves it forgotten on the wayside. "If I knew where he was, I would have brought him back long before now. It's been ten months, seventeen days, and four hours since I last heard his voice, longer since I last saw his face, and you think that I would have just let him walk away? I _love_ him, Tommy. If I couldn't drag him back here, I would have stayed with him, but he disappeared. I don't know where he went. I don't know where to find him. I don't even know where to start to look for him, so I'm sorry I can't help you. And even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you just so you could kill him. _

_"And if he _was_ here, he would be in this office by now." He would be here, putting himself between her and Tommy, whether it would be to protect her or to embrace his friend, she doesn't know, but he would be in this room, without a doubt. _

_"How could you not know where he is?" _

_"Because there was an explosion and afterwards we couldn't find him!" It all comes cascading out her mouth, the tears no longer held in check. Her nose is running and she's sure her mascara and eye liner are now black lines running down her face. She was never a pretty crier and this is breaking her heart into tiny pieces all over again. "I sent him into a warehouse after William Tockman and he never came out, Tommy. And no matter how hard I look, I can't find him. I can't find him, and I can't stop looking. So it doesn't matter how much you threaten, or how much you yell because HE'S GONE AND I CAN'T FIND HIM...I can't find him..." _

_She collapses back into her chair as the anger-fueled energy dissipates, leaving only sorrow. She can't see Tommy anymore as her head rests on her hands, shoulders shaking from sobs racking her body. She's hasn't broken down to cry over this in months. She had been getting better, but now all she can think is that if Oliver were here, he would be overjoyed to see his friend returned from the dead. _

_She finally looks up to Tommy's scowl as he turns away from her. "Then it looks like I'll have to find him myself. You or your team get in the way, and I will kill you." _

Well, apparently he managed to track down Tockman after that night. Before he left her office, she'd managed to plant a tracker on him and had followed him for a couple weeks, but they mostly were only able to track him by the victims he left behind, tortured presumably for information. Digg caught up to him and one point and was left with an arrow through the arm for his efforts. Thea had joined him for a while in the search for Oliver, but she had stopped after Tommy nearly killed Roy. Then Tommy had vanished and Felicity had another surge of energy to focus on. She just hadn't connected the dots until now.

"You found Tockman," she states quietly.

"And you found Oliver." Tommy smirks. "Is everything good in paradise now? Have you two gotten close again? Done the horizontal tango? Kissed and made up?"

She can feel the scowl settling into place. "That's cute. What do you want, Tommy?"

"I have a promise to keep, a list that keeps getting longer."

"You've been gone a long time, Tommy. You can give up this mission and surrender now."

"Out of curiosity, does this talking people down thing _ever_ work?"

Her lips tick upward in a smile. "You'd be surprised."

"Once upon a time, princess, that might have worked, but I have my orders and you're not going after him and I promised that if you got in my way, I'd kill you. I guess it's time I kept that promise."

In a movement so fast, his arm appears to blur, he throws a knife for her face. She knocks it out of the air with and arrow, firing another one as fast as she can. He blocks it with his own bow, firing off a shot in her direction. It's been a long time since she's had a good archer fight. In fact, the last one was with Nyssa when she came to visit six months ago, but her body immediately returns to the dodging and ducking motions with ease, even catching one of his own arrows to turn around and fire it back until he closes the distance between them and suddenly there's no room to fire.

Bows turn into melee weapons and hand to hand combat until she manages to push him back with a kick to the gut.

He chuckles, straightening to circle her while he catches his breath. "You were trained by the League. I didn't expect that."

"Not exactly." She moves to strike, taking the offensive, forcing him to react, but Tommy was good. It took all her skills just to stay on his level. This was going to take all her concentration.

...

_His eyes flutter open and he wakes up, averting his face from the light peeking through the window. A weight stops him from lifting his arm and he frowns until he looks down to a pile of blond curls and a warm body snuggled against his. Oliver can't help the smile on his face as she shimmies just a little bit closer, one arm draped over his bare chest as her head burrows into his chest to block out the sunlight. _

_He reaches up with the arm under her head and lightly traces from the curve of her hip up to her breast and back down, reveling in the smooth silkiness of her skin under his roughly calloused fingertips. She hums contentedly against his chest encouraging his hand to explore even more. She shifts, turning her face up to his and sleepily opening her blue eyes to meet his. Oliver smiles back at her. _

_"Morning, sunshine," he whispers huskily in Russian, leaning in to steal a kiss, one that quickly deepens into something more. She pulls away before they move any further. _

_"I'll never get tired of waking up to that," Felicity murmurs back, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. _

_He chuckles in response, threading their free hands together before lifting them to his lips for another kiss. He presses a kiss to her engagement ring and wedding band. "Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Queen." _

_She rolls her eyes. "You're a giant teddy bear, Mr. Queen." She leans forward again for a kiss before turning away and climbing out of the bed, the sheets sliding off to reveal her naked body. _

_Oliver smiles as she stands and stretches. The warm feeling swells inside him, filling him until it explodes in three little words: "I love you." _

_Felicity turns back to him with a radiant smile. His breath catches in his throat as the sunlight outlines her, lighting her up like an angel including the slight swell of her stomach where her ringed hand rests on her four month baby-bump. _

_"I love you, too. Now, we have to get going if we're going to be on time to the doctor's appointment." _

_He pulls on sweatpants as he climbs from bed. He lets her shower first, moving into the kitchen to start the coffee maker and then he shifting gears to make the pancakes she had been craving lately, tossing in liberal handfuls of chocolate chips. _

_She slips into the kitchen, the shuffle of her slippers against the tiled floor alerting him to her presence before her arms slip around his waist and she presses into his back. _

_"Mmmmm. Those smell delicious." _

_He twists in her arms, pulling her around for another kiss before handing her a plate of pancakes. She takes them, releasing his waist to do so. He presses another kiss to her forehead. "Anything for you." _

_"A teddy bear," she repeats with a smile. _

_He laughs, handing her her prenatal vitamins. He follows her to the table and hands her a bowl of fruit and a cup of milk. She shakes her head at him. _

_"You're too good to me," she tells him. _

_He can tell that she means every word, but he doesn't see it that way. He does all this for her because he's not worthy of her goodness and he does everything he can to prove otherwise. When she smiles up at him like she is now, he feels accomplished, like he's done something right, like he could live happily forever in this moment. It feels perfect and almost too good to be true._

...

She sees it coming a millisecond before the strike hits: soon enough to prepare her mind, but not soon enough to block the strike. She feels the knife stab into her thigh. She knocks his hand away, leaving the knife embedded in her leg as she brings the bow down in a slash, hitting him hard enough to daze him so he stumbles back. Only now she can't put weight on her left leg without a surge of pain.

Tommy swipes the blood from under his broken nose, popping it back into place. He's not quite walking quite as well as he did before either, but her speed was her greatest advantage in the field and he has severely crippled her ability to move quickly.

She lifts her bow, loading it, pointing directly at him. Felicity releases the trick arrow, and it wraps around him, knocking him to the ground. She buries the urge for a fist pump of victory, even now after years of suppressing the desire it still rears its head in moments of triumph. And her celebration is premature. Tommy is already pulling himself loose. She hobbles over and chops his pressure point, effectively knocking him out before she collapses on the ground next to him, unable to hold her own weight any more.

She drags her eyes back to Batman. He's still engaged with Count Vertigo and Oliver is still on the ground. Felicity slams her fist on the ground. She sits up and presses her fingers to her earpiece.

"Watchtower, were you able to track Tockman?"

"Negative, Green Arrow. There are no cameras in the area. I can scan the area further out for evidence."

She sighs, fearing that would be the case. If she could stand she might be able to follow the car on her motorcycle...if she hadn't shot an arrow into the back tire of it. Damn. She finally found Tockman and she let him get away. He's had some crazy plan he's been working on for God knows how long, and he escaped. She should have called Roy and Laurel to join them. It wasn't for overconfidence that she excluded them, but they were on duty in the satellite.

"Watchtower, inform the JLA that Tockman escaped but we have the Dark Archer in custody and Batman is facing off against Count Vertigo."

"Done, Green Arrow. Connecting to the Watchtower."

"Do you need back up?" Laurel demands over the comms.

"Track Tockman if you can," Batman growls. "I can take out Vertigo. We will need a medic. Green Arrow is down and the Hood as well."

Felicity scowls, pushing herself up and forcing her weight onto one foot. Avoiding the Bat and his adversary, she hops over to Oliver, lowering herself slowly to the ground beside him. Her wound prohibits her from kneeling so she sits awkwardly on the ground, cold pavement soaking through her leather.

"Oliver, you need to wake up. Whatever you're seeing, it's not real. Listen to the sound of my voice. You need to wake up. WAKE UP!" Yeah, if yelling that at Count Vertigo's victims woke them up, it would be so much easier to defeat him.

...

_His eyes fly open, jolted awake by some ghost of a noise. He sits straight up in bed, displacing Felicity next to him. She frowns up at him, blinking blearily up at him. _

_"What is it?" Sleep laces her voice and he lays back down, pulling her close again. _

_Oliver frowns. What was it? What had woken him up? He doesn't remember. It seems like it was the dream of a dream that did it. He absentmindedly strokes her back, tracing lines along her spine. "I thought I heard something." _

_"Did you?" Felicity mumbles against his chest, yawning. _

_"Yeah." He can't shake the feeling that it was important. There's something not quite right now. He swears he can hear Felicity's voice in the back of his mind, like something from his subconscious. _

_"Did you say something?" he asks, turning to look down at her, but she's asleep once again against his chest. He takes the moment to stare at her in the dawn light as it bathes her gold. He has no idea how he got this lucky. _

_He tries to think back, to remember how it happened, frowning when he comes up empty. He doesn't remember how it happened. Oliver remembers asking her on their first date just outside their new lair. He remembers kissing her against her car like he always wanted, but after that it's a blur. He doesn't remember the actual date or any of the others that must have followed. He doesn't remember picking out the engagement ring or the proposal. He barely remember yesterday... _

_Oliver shakes his head, trying to push the idea away, but it fuels the nagging voice in the back of his head, the voice that sounds suspiciously like Felicity. _

"It isn't real. Wake up!"

_It's almost like she's screaming in his ear. His eyes drop to the woman asleep against his chest, taking comfort in his presence. She's definitely not talking, but the voice...He would recognize Felicity's voice anywhere. _

_So he trusts his instincts and searches for his last memory, the last real memory he has before he woke up here. It comes back to him in stunning clarity, so clearly he can hear Felicity talking to him in that babbling way she has, telling him to wake up, to fight against whatever illusion has him trapped. He can hear the sounds of a fight. Then the bed beneath him turns to concrete, shifting back and forth as his concentration wavers. _

A small fist pounds into chest.

"Wake up you, stubborn, idiotic, pig-headed, arrow-wielding, time-travelling, salmon-ladder-ing, irksome bastard. I swear, you better listen to me. You can't leave me alone, you, you, you, obnoxious frat boy of a vigilante, especially with this FUCKING KNIFE IN MY LEG!"

He coughs as both her hands slam into his chest. He jerks up, wrapping his hands around her writs to stop her from hitting him again. "I'm back. Felicity, I'm back. What just happened? I thought I saw...I thought I saw Tommy."

"Thank God!" She throws her arms around him, green hood falling back with the action. He bands an arm around her back, pulling her closer, as close as he can. "I thought I wasn't going to be able to wake you."

Just as suddenly, Felicity pulls back, wincing and falling over.

"Your leg!" He reaches for the knife and then thinks better of it. There's no gushing liquid around it, which is good news at the very least.

"I'm fine. Go help Batman."

Oliver nods, watching her carefully before racing to assist Bruce, who's fighting more jerkily than usual. With Count Vertigo's attention Diverted, Oliver gets in a check to the back of his neck, but the man does not collapse, he turns instead and the world he was just trapped in for a moment.

It takes him a second to shake it off, in the process he gets a fist to the face. No wonder Bruce isn't fighting as well as he was an hour ago. Oliver suddenly finds it amazing he was holding his own at all.

Oliver decides it was good he and Bruce had been fighting in the lair because he knows what the man will do well enough now that they can fight together, playing off one another. They're doing quite well until Count Vertigo kicks Oliver in the stomach and back into Batman, knocking them backwards onto the ground and disappears before they can get up.

"Where did he go?" Oliver demands, looking around.

"Let him go," Felicity shouts.

He doesn't know how she managed to stand, but she hobbles over, the black handle of the knife protruding from her leg.

"Watchtower, we need transport and medical. Green Arrow is injured. And we have once prisoner." Batman turns in a circle. "I will take my bike back to your lair and meet you at Watchtower." He points to Oliver. "Take care of her."

He nods seriously, wrapping an arm around her waist to help hold Felicity up. She feels almost fragile under his arm. Then his eyes land on the bound unconscious figure on the ground, a figure he would recognize even with his face turned away. He thought he had imagined it.

"Tommy?"

Felicity stiffens next to him as a fuzzy feeling over takes them and the world transforms, turning into a large metal room with a huge conference table in the middle. Roy and a man in a white coat race forward and take Felicity from his grasp. He feels bereft without her pressed to his side. He turns around in a circle and Laurel smiles at him from her perch on the table, dressed in her Black Canary gear.

Laurel...he turns back to where he last remembers seeing Tommy on the ground, but he's no longer there. "Where did..."

"He's in the lower jail cells. We have to wait for him to come to and then someone can talk to him." He can hear the edge of grief in her voice. He knows her well enough to recognize it.

"Is that really Tommy?"

He saw Tommy die. Tommy _died_ in his arms.

Laurel nods sadly. She sighs. "It's him, but he's twisted. He killed Malcolm and swore revenge on you and the team. He disappeared for a while and since he was with Tockman and Vertigo, my guess is that he came through one of those portals like you did."

"But you've seen him before? Wait! Malcolm? I thought-"

"That you killed Malcolm when you stabbed him through the heart with an arrow," Laurel fills in with a wry smile. "It turns out Ras Al Ghul has these things called Lazarus Pits that can bring people back from the dead or some such nonsense. Malcolm apparently found his way to one and Ras brought Tommy back to kill his father. The pit...it twisted him somehow. He's Tommy, but not Tommy at the same time. You'll see what I mean when you talk to him."

Oliver swallows thickly, nodding slowly. "So...where are we? Another Lair?"

Laurel chuckles, shaking her head. "No." She jumps from the table and walks backwards to the large glass window he hadn't noticed before. Of course, now he can't look away because he literally sees all of Earth through the panoramic view. His mouth falls open as he walks forward, awestruck.

"Welcome to the Watchtower: the headquarters for the Justice League of America."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Thank you everyone who's been reviewing! You're fantastic. And have no fear, I am going to finish this story, not leave it hanging. I'm just going to be busy in the next couple of weeks with finals/papers so it might be a while before I update again. _

_Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think! _

_..._

**Chapter 8**

_"Welcome to the Watchtower: the headquarters for the Justice League of America." _

Oliver's breath deserts him at the sight out the window and he lowers himself into the nearest chair. He's never been much of a science-fiction fan, but this is obviously straight from one of those movies: superheroes with a home base in space (try saying that three times fast). Sounds like Power Rangers or something like that. Then again, given that he finds himself here via time travel, this really shouldn't be all that shocking. He runs a hand over his jaw, partially to make sure he remembers to close his mouth.

"Yeah, and I haven't even explained aliens, yet," Laurel chuckles, clearly enjoying the moment. She hops delightedly down from the table, feet landing lightly on the ground with a little bounce.

"Aliens?" Surprisingly, this new development doesn't shock him. It actually makes sense. "So, Superman is an alien."

Laurel pauses in front of the computer monitors, finger hovering over the button to display the profiles of the current league members. "How did you...Did Lissy already tell you all of this?"

Oliver shakes his head, standing back up once again, his legs no longer wobbly at the sight out the window. "Nope. It logically it works out. He's got too many abilities to be a metahuman. Plus, I'm guessing Martian Manhunter actually a Martian."

She stares at him for a long moment before huffing and collapsing slightly. "And I thought you were going to totally freak out...actually I was hoping you would."

"At this point, I'm just taking everything as it comes. Nothing fundamental has changed, only expanded." Or that's what he keeps telling himself. Truthfully, the whole aliens thing is daunting and opens a whole new can of worms, a cache of other planets and universes he has to learn about too. He's also more worried about Felicity with the knife in her thigh. He can't get stuck on all the new developments that happened over the last five years. He can only accept and deal with the new information if he wants to survive here.

And he will survive here. Is he sad he missed the last few years? Yes, but like when he got stranded on Lian Yu, he can only deal with the situation and react. "So...are there any other aliens on the team?"

"You just take the fun out of everything." Laurel drops into the chair by the computers with a disappointed pout.

A flash of light to their left has Oliver's head whipping around. Out of the light, the black-clothed Batman emerges from what Oliver swore was just an oddly shaped wall. Apparently, it was a little more than that considering the man wasn't there a second before. That must be the teleportation device that got him and Felicity here earlier. That's convenient.

"Welcome, Batman," Watchtower's now-familiar electronic voice greets as the light disappears.

"How is Green Arrow?" he asks gruffly.

"She is in medical, sir." The voice replies. "Doctor Hamilton says she will be fine, but insists on at least a two week healing period."

Batman nods, walking over to join Oliver and Laurel. "She's not going to like that, but perhaps this would be the best time to get Mr. Queen up to speed. With Green Arrow out of commission, we could use his help."

"Yup...Don't bother," Laurel interrupts. "Apparently, he knows it all already." She snorts derisively. "I mentioned aliens and he guessed Clark was one."

Oliver rolls his eyes. She's just upset she didn't get her big reveal. "So Superman's name is Clark."

Two sets of eyes land on him. Laurel sighs in annoyance. "See what I mean! He's got no appreciation for big reveals! But at least he doesn't act like he knows everything like another broody masked man in this room right now." She turns accusingly back to Batman, but he doesn't respond.

Oliver sighs, moving towards the doorway Felicity, Roy and the doctor disappeared through. "I'm going to find medical."

He's not sure they hear him as he ventures into the strange hallway. Does he have any idea _where_ he's going? Not at all, but he wouldn't mind the chance to explore. Something about this shiny satellite is bringing out the excited kid in him, the one that spent hours playing with Legos and thought each new place was prime for exploration. There's a drive to race around to know every nook and cranny, the best hiding spots, all the secret passages until nothing remains hidden.

But he doesn't get the chace. As soon as the door closes behind him , a hologram appears before him like the one of Felicity he saw at the foundry but this one isn't someone he recognizes. It's a man with gray-white hair in a pressed neat suit with a look of faint distain pressing his features as he stares down his nose, despite Oliver standing taller than him by several inches.

"Mr. Queen, if you would follow me to medical." The proper British accent, crisp and all business suits the hologram perfectly. He wonders who the man is. He doubts it's simply a computer construction. The air of a gentleman's gentleman is too perfect for it to be computer generated.

The hallways are made of the same odd metal as the main conference room. He would expect the space station to be more cramped, more compressed, but the ceilings are easily ten feet tall and the halls wide enough to fit a car. It reminds him of a metal, modern Queen Mansion, somehow grand even without all the mahogany and ornamental trappings.

The butler leads him past a set of giant open doors that lead to an open gym with various weapons glinting on the far wall, but he doesn't stop until they get to the next set of double doors with a large, red cross emblazoned on the closed doors.

"Here you are, Mr. Queen. Will you be needing any further assistance?"

"No. Thank you," Oliver stutters, unaware of the normal protocols involving holograms. The man bows slightly at the waist and fades into nothingness, dissipating into particle of light. He blinks at the empty space for a moment before turning and walking through the swinging white doors into the sterile, bleached room.

A man with salt and pepper hair, thick glasses, and a white lab coat leans over Felicity's leg, slowly stitching the large wound. Oliver grimaces at the sight. It wasn't that long ago that the idea of Felicity in the field gave him anxiety. But that was five years ago and this Felicity was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Sitting there, her leather leggings are cut up the center and Roy stands dutifully next to her as her hands dig into his, causing the younger man pain judging by his own twisted expression. The injury-inducing blade lies on a nearby tray, still covered in Felicity's drying blood. Oliver swallows the bile in his throat as he realizes his former best friend is the one who stabbed the woman he loves. And he does still love her. It's still his soul, the light of his life, sitting at the medical table.

"You're done, Felicity," the doctor announces, stepping back to grab a white pad to tape over the stitches. "You're lucky it just nicked your femoral artery or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

She's pale as she nods. Oliver steps forward, prepared to help as she slides from the table to land gingerly on her feet for the first time. She frowns, limping slightly forward but she refuses to accept any assistance. Oliver sighs, not that surprised, especially as Roy and the doctor seem just as resigned to her independence. This obviously isn't the first time this has happened.

"Thank you, Emil."

"And don't you go ripping those stitches! I mean it! You shouldn't be running around Starling with that leg. You're going to have to let Roy and Laurel take patrols for the next couple of weeks."

Felicity scowls, eyes ready to argue.

"With Mr. Queen back, perhaps you could share the Green Arrow duties." The doctor gives him a pointed look and Oliver nods in agreement. This is the first time the doctor has actually looked at him since he entered the room.

"You have to take time to heal, Felicity." He meets her glare head-on. Her safety has always been his top priority even he wasn't very good at securing it. Here, in the future, she can take him in a fight and it fills him with a sense of relief he didn't think he would feel. If he had realized how much comfort knowing she could protect herself gave him, then he would have started training her sooner. Still, finding himself on the other side of this conversation is a bizarre feeling.

The twitch in her lips tells him she sees the irony just as clearly as he does. She sighs, letting him snake an arm around her waist to assist her. "And I suppose you want your hood back?"

His eyes drift instinctively back to the hood now hanging down her back. It's not Shado's hood – that had been on him when he travelled through time – but it was hers. And the hood was conflicting for him. The outfit he had travelled through time with was hanging in the Foundry, but he hadn't worn it since that first night. Besides, Green Arrow wasn't the Arrow. There were so many differences he had picked up on in the past week here. Green Arrow never even thought about killing. Green Arrow had to be tough and final, but Green Arrow was also compassionate and dedicated to the goal of making the city, the world, a safer place for all its citizens.

She and Diggle had turned his mission into a greater one. Felicity's hood was now the one he had to live up to. He had worn Shado's in memory of her, but she had no reservations about killing for their survival. Felicity and John created Green Arrow and if he chose to take up the hood again, he would have to live up to the standards they set. He would be doing everything their way, following their example.

"It's not my hood anymore," he whispers back to her as she directs them down a different hallway.

She pauses and looks up at him with curious eyes. Oliver stares back in silence, trying to convey everything in his eyes. She used to be able to read him so well, so well that words became unnecessary. She nods slowly, tears starting to water in her eyes.

"It's always been your hood, Oliver. Your hood, your fight."

"As soon as you and Digg signed on it was your fight too. Yours and Roy's. You're the one who got me to stop killing, got me to care about more than just that stupid list. You and Digg and even Roy. The hood is just as much yours now as it was ever mine." Oliver lifts the hand not around her waist to cup her cheek. "Sorry I disappeared," he whispers, barely audible.

She leans into his touch, eyes fluttering shut. "It's not really your fault, is it?"

"No," he agrees quietly. He can feel her pulse under his fingerprints. Her breathing doesn't quicken. Her pupil's dilate, but he's completely aware of his own arousal in this moment. The past week keeping his distance has been near-torture, but for her it had been five years, five years where she had her own life without him. He wasn't sure where they stood. He knew his feelings hadn't changed, but hers he hadn't been so sure about until this moment.

"Oliver." She leans forward, lips parted slightly.

He runs a thumb over her lower lip before he steps back slightly. "Let's find you some pants."

She groans, rolling her eyes. "Really, Oliver? Wasn't five years long enough?" She curls her hands into his shirt and yanks him roughly down to her level, pressing her lips to his.

Both his hands move to cup her neck gently as she presses against him. Oliver twists them around, backing her up against the nearest wall, still careful of her injured leg. He gets lost in her, in her soft skin under his fingertips and the sweet taste of her mouth as the kiss deepens. He threads his fingers into her hair, yanking bits out of her braid as she hums contentedly against his mouth. A groan slips from his mouth in response. God, he loves her.

Then the moment is ruined by a pointed cough from down the hall and he slowly pulls away from her, untangling his fingers from her hair. Damn, he wishes they were anywhere but here that she wasn't injured, somewhere they wouldn't be interrupted.

...

Felicity groans, head falling back against the wall. She doesn't take her eyes from Oliver's face and she can read the annoyance in it as he turns to face their intruder. She stares at the ceiling, praying for patience because what was supposed to be a comforting kiss somehow managed to light a fire in her that she now has to subdue.

"Get lost, Clark."

She turns to glare at the towering man down the hall. He's still wearing his suit and press tags, but his chunky glasses are stiffed into his suit pocket and his nervous ticks have vanished. He's back to the confident alien who saves the world on his lunch break.

Oliver steps back, looking over the other man before glancing back at Felicity with an amused smirk. "So you're Superman."

"And you're the original Green Arrow: Oliver Queen."

Felicity sighs, watching them face off as she leans against the wall. Her feet are weak under her and the wall is the only thing keeping her up, cold and solid against her back. She's also half-naked in the hallway in front of the most powerful being on the planet. Not that she cares. Clark's not one to oogle women when he's got Lois waiting.

_"Excuse me, Miss. I'm looking for Mr. Ray Palmer." _

_Felicity lifts her eyes from her tablet, pulling it against her chest so he can't see the camera feeds from across town from cameras she definitely should have access to. The man in front of her pushes large, square glasses up his nose, his large shoulders hunched up by his ears. A laminated tag dubs him a reporter from the Daily Planet, Clark Kent. He's holding a small flip notebook and a pencil, watching her expectantly. _

_He coughs slightly and Felicity shakes herself to stop her staring, but she can't help herself. She's finally met the man in person so it's taking a moment to get her babbling under control. Barry isn't going to believe her when she tells him. _

_"And you are?" Felicity decides to play dumb, tilting her head to the side with a polite smile fighting back the flashbacks to her days as an executive assistant. It's been over three years since she held that position, but she still gets annoyed when people mistake her for one. Not that he mistook her for a secretary, but why else would he think she knew where Ray was? _

_"Excuse my friend." A shorter woman elbows Clark out of the way, her eyes flashing with famous determination. She juts her hand out in Felicity's face. "Lois Lane. And this is Clark Kent. We're here to interview Mr. Palmer for the Daily Planet." _

_Felicity smirks. When Superman had appeared on their radar a year and half ago, Felicity had done all she could to find him, to figure out if he was a threat or not. And as a result she had uncovered his identity. She'd scrubbed all the revealing footage afterward, but she had made the decision not to approach. He was entitled to his secret identity after all. "That's nice. But I'm not sure I can help." _

_"All we need is for you to direct us to Mr. Palmer's office." Lois's smile tightens as she glances around the lobby, like it should be obvious. _

_She chuckles. "I've just returned from an extended leave of absence to ask for my job back, Miss Lane. I've checked his office, all of his labs, and every conference room in the building, so, like you, I am forced to resort to staking out the lobby to catch him on the way in or hacking his phone to locate him that way." _

_The two reporters stare at her blankly and she smiles back pleasantly. They haven't decided whether or not she's joking yet. Nevermind the fact that her tablet had just finished the search as they walked up. Ray was on the other side of town, in a tight suit that was definitely not conducive to business. _

_Lois sighs and grimaces at her partner. "Go figure. I know Perry said Palmer was hard to pin down, but I figured he'd at least be in the building at the time we scheduled the appointment." _

_"Ray is eccentric," Felicity offers with a smile. Her tablet dings and she glances down. Ray's dot is pulling up to the building. _

_"You're on first name terms with the boss?" Lois asks. _

_Felicity glances sideways. After her months of training she's learned to control her emotions and her babbling, for the most part. She could race out and meet Ray before he makes it to the elevators or she could let him come to her. And he will. He hasn't replaced her yet, even if her key card no longer works. Honestly, it wasn't like that could stop her. Her card was already back in the system and if he didn't expect it, she would be insulted. _

_"Lois." Clark points to Ray's approaching figure. _

_"Well, good luck with that job," Lois says before racing away to meet Ray at the doors to the building. _

_Felicity slides her tablet back into her bag and crosses her arms over her chest as she watches Ray interact with the two reporters. It's clear that they're firing rapid questions at him as he glides across the lobby. For his part, he's answering the questions just as quickly as he goes about everything. She calmly waits for him to notice her because she knows he will. _

_Sure enough, Ray passes the security desk with the reporters trailing behind him. The smirk returns to her face as he pauses halfway to the elevators and turns around, eyes landing directly on her. She raises her eyebrows and he beams at her. She can see Lois and Clark curious at the sudden change in her demeanor, but before they can fully register Ray's full change in mood, he's striding towards her. _

_"You're back," he says breathlessly before wrapping her in a quick hug. He steps back almost as quickly as he approached, rocking back on his heels and shoving his hands into his pockets. "I wasn't sure you were coming back." _

_"I just had some things to take care of." Felicity smiles softly, remembering the scene left behind after John's death. Ray's been taking care of the city for the past couple of months. He had only learned her secret work with Green Arrow a couple months before John passed, and he had become the Atom only a few months prior to that. So he knows what she's talking about. _

_"And everything's...taken care of now?" Ray glances back at his two new shadows. _

_Lois's eyes glint as she absorbs all the new knowledge. Felicity's willing to bet this article is going to include the hug with a mysterious blonde and she sighs. Clark seems more interested in the stilted, obviously contrived conversation. He even seems less hunched over. _

_"I found what I needed, so now I'm back." _

_"Does that mean back to work?" Ray beams at her, bouncing once again on the balls of his feet. "I've got so many ideas and no one else can keep up with me." He throws his arm over her shoulder and immediately ushers her towards the elevators with the reporters following in their wake. "I mean, there were these two other candidates, but they barely lasted a day. One of them almost broke the Quardo-sphere...Quadros-sphere? No. I don't like that. We're not going to call it that, but some idiot almost broke it. I just couldn't replace you. Everything's still in your office, just as you left it. The second buffoon tried to move some things around, but I put it back to rights." _

_Ray presses the button to her floor. He glances over at her. "So, did you already take care of your card?" _

_Felicity returns the smirk as she pins the ID badge to her jacket pocket. "What do you think?" _

_Lois coughs behind them and Ray sighs. "Sorry, have you met...?" He gestures between the reporters, snapping his fingers for the information that eludes him. _

_"Lois and Clark. Yes, I have." Felicity smiles widely at them. "Although, I didn't get the opportunity to introduce myself." She holds out her hand. "Felicity Smoak, Head of Applied Sciences." _

_Both reporters pause at the name. _

_"Felicity Smoak?" Lois asks hesitantly. _

_Felicity can hear all the unsaid words: _Felicity Smoak, the former secretary of Oliver Queen, the woman sleeping with her boss_. It's nothing she hasn't heard before. You'd think with Oliver's disappearance and her new position those ideas would have vanished years ago, but she's still fighting against them. _

_"As in the woman who's been staying with Bruce Wayne in Gotham?" _

_That was not how she thought that sentence would end. _

_"Bruce Wayne?" Ray demands. "You were with the competition?" _

_Felicity shoots him a look, rolling her eyes. "Bruce is a friend." _

_"You're friends with a good number of billionaires," Lois points out with a smirk. _

_She rolls her eyes at the other woman. "And you spend a lot of time with a man who wears blue tights, but I'll try not to judge." _

_Lois's pen pauses over the paper, but Felicity focuses on Clark's reaction. His steely blue eyes meet hers, wide with feigned innocence. _

_"Well, first Oliver Queen, then Ray Palmer, now Bruce Wayne...That's quite an extensive list for a no-one IT girl." Lois smiles frostily, ignoring the blue-tights comment. _

_"And I have never slept with a single one of them, Miss Lane, so whatever insinuation you're trying to spin, I won't be much help unless you're not above making things up." She turns to the reflective elevator doors, stepping out onto her floor and making her way towards her office. _

_"Except that I've seen these men around you, Miss Smoak. They're all obviously interested." _

_Felicity drops her bags onto her chair and turns back to the reporters and Ray who have all followed her, unsurprisingly. Ignoring their presence, she pulls up her computers and hooks up her tablet, allowing it to update the computers in front of her before turning back to her guests. _

_"They might be interested, but I'm not. Not to say I didn't think about it. I am human, after all, but like I said, I haven't slept with any of them." She walks around her desk to sit on the other side of it. "Any more questions before you return to your interview with Mr. Palmer?" _

_"How does someone go from an IT girl to a secretary to the Head of Applied Science? The woman on friendly terms with so many billionaires it would make the world jealous?" _

_She shrugs in response. "Oliver Queen came down to my IT cubicle looking for computer help and we became friends. He needed someone he trusted with him when he became CEO and Mr. Palmer here recognized what I was capable of so he made me Head of Applied Sciences. As to Bruce Wayne...we met at a gala in Gotham. There's no interesting story there." _

_Lois frowns, tapping her pen against the notepad as she contemplates Felicity. _

_"So why don't we head up to my office to continue this interview?" Ray claps his hands and Lois slowly follows him to the elevator. Clark follows them a little slower, glancing backwards. _

_Felicity smirks and whispers to her empty room. "Mr. Kent." She notices him pause for a moment before continuing to walk. "It was nice to finally meet you. I'm a huge fan of your work. And if you want my advice, you should just ask her out. Being saved by the hero might be nice, but having that hero to hold at night is a thousand times better. Take it from someone who knows. I lost my hero before I could find out. Don't wait until it's too late." _

_Clark's eyes meet hers through the glass wall and he stares at her, mouth open. She smiles, proud that she was able to make the Man of Steel gape like a goldfish. _

"How's Lois?" she asks, to distract Clark from his scrutiny of Oliver.

"She's...Lois. So, Oliver Queen...looks like you really are back from the dead...again." Clark crosses his arms over his chest and stands at his tallest. It's straight from the Superman handbook and Felicity fights the urge to roll her eyes yet again.

"And you're the Justice League's powerhouse. Maddie can list all your stats, but I'm not quite there yet."

Felicity snorts at the joke, imagining her niece shoving all her trading cards at Oliver and reciting all the information verbatim. Oliver's eyes crinkle at the corners in a smile as he looks back at her. She reaches out and grabs his hand, pushing herself off the comforting solidity of the wall.

"And I've heard lots of stories about you," Clark mutters, his eyes narrow. "So this is the part where I tell you that if you break her heart, I'll kick your ass."

Oliver nods. "I get the feeling I'm going to hear that from everybody. I should start a list, but you should also know that Felicity will be first in line."

"Damn right." She tries to take a step towards Clark, but her leg gives out under her and the only thing preventing her from crashing into the floor is Oliver wrapping an arm around her waist. She's thankful he doesn't try to carry her because she's pretty sure her pride couldn't handle that, especially in front of Clark.

"How are you, Lissy?" Clark asks quietly, suddenly a lot closer than he was a couple seconds ago.

She rolls her eyes, straightening slightly away from Oliver. "I'm fine." Both men shoot her disbelieving looks and she groans internally. "Okay, so not fine, but I be once I've gotten a good meal and a nap."

Oliver snorts and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, "and a pair of pants." Right. She forgot the half-naked part of the equation. Oops.

...

He can feel her tiring against his side, fatigue from blood-loss probably sinking in. "You need rest," he whispers to her. "We should get you home."

"Her room's right here." Clark points to the nearest door. "We all have rooms in the Watchtower for emergencies."

Oliver nods and maneuvers them closer. "Thank you."

Clark returns the nod, holding the door open for them. His piercing blue eyes never leave Oliver, but he can't figure out where he stands with the man. The gaze is cool and assessing, plain and simple.

"She's been looking for you for a long time, you know."

Clark's voice carries through the room, but Oliver's eyes are fastened on Felicity's face and the fearsome glare she's sending at the titan in her doorway. He drags her attention back to him with a hand on her cheek.

"Don't worry. Bruce has already made that painfully clear." In all their training sessions over the past week, with every discussion. He caresses her cheek before turning to the dresser. He opens three drawers before he finds a pair of sweatpants that will fit her loosely. He doesn't comment on the fact that they clearly belonged to him from five years ago.

She takes them with a grateful smile.

"I'll wait outside," Oliver offers and Clark joins him in the hallway. He can hear her snort as he slowly closes the door. "Yell if you need help."

He leans against the wall in the hallway, crossing his arms over his chest as he silently contemplates the alien in the hallway with him. He feels short next to the giant, but Superman is reedier than he expected. Diggle was more muscled than him, although not quite as tall. The pang of sadness for his friend hits him like a punch to the gut.

Clark watches him, contemplating, but Oliver's been dealing with Batman for the last week and Clark's studious glares are nothing compared to Bruce's belligerent ones. Then again, Oliver gets the sense that Clark lets Bruce do the intimidating and is content sticking to the shadows when not in costume.

"Whatever you want to say, say it." Oliver stares down at his crossed arms, not interested in starting a staring contest now because he has no doubt it's going to be more of the same warnings on Felicity's behalf.

"I'm sure Bruce has already said it all."

Oliver chuckles, remembering each and every emphasizing punch. "You could say that."

Clark shakes his head. "Bruce..."

"He helped me work through some things." Oliver admits, grimacing as he looks up at the ceiling. "Sometimes it takes some force to get things through my thick skull."

"Lissy implied as much." Clark moves to stand across from Oliver. "I just want to make sure-"

"I'm serious about her." He would be pissed everyone kept doubting him if he didn't know there were strong grounds for it. But he's sure about what he feels right now. His eyes meet Clark's. "I love her and if she's willing to let me, I'd like live the rest of my life with her."

And he means the words more than he ever realized. He missed five years, five years where she could have been his and it hurts. He wants nothing more than to be by her side for the rest of their lives. He doesn't want to miss another moment.

"Are you happy now, Clark?" She asks from the door, a door he didn't notice was even open until this moment. She's leaning against the door and her eyes are tired, but she's smiling too. It's a smile that pulls him in, makes him imagine pulling her back into bed after a long night wither her falling asleep in his arms when she's finally completely exhausted.

Clark says something, but Oliver doesn't quite catch it because he can't drag his eyes away from her. All the green leather is gone, replaced by the sweatpants and purple tank top, the splash of color that was all her. All he knows is that after Clark speaks her eyes fasten on his again and her hand reaches out. There are new callouses on her hands, ones he recognizes as coming from handling a bow.

Slowly, she pulls him into the room, backing up while keeping eye contact. Oliver kicks her door shut behind them.

"You need sleep," Oliver whispers to her, trying not to think too much about being alone in her room with her pulling him towards her bed.

She nods drowsily. "I know, sleep. But stay."

He lets her pull him down on to the bed, dragging him down to lay beside her. Once he's lying down, she curls into him, resting her head on his chest. He closes his eyes against the onslaught of emotions, breathing deeply as she slowly drifts off to sleep. A couple breaths later he joins her in slumber, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.


End file.
